Stuck
by mikotodesu
Summary: Based straight after Chapter 48. Kaname has left the school. Ruka and Hanabusa decide to search for him, so once more Kain tags along. However things don't go as planned as their train crashes in the middle of nowhere leaving them to fend for their lives.
1. Unrequited

**Author's note: **Just to let everybody know… this story is based at the same time of chapter 47 in the manga, when Kain is having the whole chapter to himself D so they aren't in school at Cross Academy anymore.

ALSO, this is my first fanfic... be nice =) I hope to continue it for a few chapters at least…  
Enjoy! (please review)

**Disclaimer:** Vampire Knight belongs to the wonderful Matsuri Hino. A big THANKYOU for creating one of my favourite anime/manga couples XD!!

**`CHAPTER 1**

She knew it was time. Time to let go, time to let go of her false hopes.

He'd beautifully rejected her feelings…

Finally told her sincerely the reasons for his constant refusals towards her…

Yuki would forever be his lover.

Ruka stared out of the country train's window wistfully, mesmerized by the passing landscape. Her gaze traced out the horizon as the sunset began to cast a beautiful dusty red across the plains. As it gradually grew darker, she could see a familiar face staring blankly back at her.

She could also see and feel Kain's occasional glances towards her while Hanabusa sat alone on the opposite chair, fuming over the argument they'd had earlier.

They'd all been on the train for a good 5 hours now, and she could tell how tired and agitated Hanabusa was. He kept writhing around in his chair, huffing irritably and sticking his face as close to the window as humanly possible. Well, inhumanly in their case.

Ruka broke her gaze from the window and studied their train compartment. Above Hanabusa's chair were both his and Kain's suitcases. Her own was apparently two big to allow another to rest beside it, so it had the whole compartment above her and Kain's chair.

She didn't need an excuse for all her luggage; girl's had a lot of possessions. It was just natural and to be expected if they weren't really living anywhere at the moment.  
No, they weren't really living anywhere… they were searching for Kaname-sama…

Kaname-sama…

No! She banged her head back hard against the wall behind, knocking all thoughts out of her brain.  
It hurt a lot more than expected.

"Ouch!" Ruka muttered, rubbing the back of her head tenderly.  
The loud sound had knocked both Hanabusa and Kain out of their sombre silence, staring at her bewilderedly.  
"What the hell are you doing?!" Hanabusa asked irritably. "Such a klutz…"  
"Are you alright?" Kain asked her from the side.  
She kicked Hanabusa painfully in the shin, causing him to yelp loudly.  
"Ouch! Hey, what the hell!!"  
Ignoring him, she turned to Kain. "Yeah I'm okay…"  
He looked into her eyes questioningly but just nodded slightly, closed his eyes and rest his head back on the wall behind.

Hanabusa pouted his lips and crossed his arms, realising he was being ignored.

"So… Kaname-sama finally rejected you huh? It's about time you got over your little obsession anyway…" He began to mock her.

Trying to ignore him, Ruka once again focused her gaze on the dark landscape outside.

"I mean it's been like that ever since we were kids… How could you stand to pine after someone for that long?! It'd drive me insane…"

"Hanabusa, give it a rest." Kain's voice broke out of the silence like music to her ears.

She smiled appreciatively.

Hanabusa scowled and sighed heavily, once more continuing to look out the window.

A couple of hours passed and nobody had said anything.

Ruka could feel Kain's steady breathing beside her as he... napped perhaps? She didn't actually know if he was asleep.

Wait.

Since when was she so close that she could feel his breathing?  
Ruka slowly looked to her left at the sleeping Kain and realized they were almost touching.  
Did she move closer without realizing it? To get more comfortable?

No… _SHE_ was against the window… how could she move?

Feeling a little uncomfortable at their close proximity, Ruka shifted a bit in her seat.

She had never really been casual with men because… She felt herself gulp painfully.

Because Ruka had always been saving herself for Kaname-sama.

The only person who had ever come so close… was while he once drank her blood back when she stupidly and openly had offered it to him.

If only she knew that her longing would intensify… That every time after he rejected her… it would burn up another piece of her heart inside…

She had to stop. Had to stop thinking about him.

Cursing herself shamefully, Ruka stood up quietly and made towards the compartment door.

"Where are _YOU_ going?" A voice called out mockingly, making Ruka freeze in her tracks.  
But it only took a bit to decipher the voice as Hanabusa's; Kain would never be that rude.

She didn't want him to know that she was still suffering so much inside… she got the feeling that he hated seeing her that way… Maybe he thought she was pathetic? To pine after someone for that long… and irrationally break down all those countless times…?

She turned around scornfully. "The bathroom you I-D-I-O-T. Where the hell else can I go in this tiny train?"  
Hanabusa opened his mouth to retort but she quickly turned on her heel and gently slid the compartment door open, then began marching down the corridor heatedly.

How she could ever stand her annoying blonde-haired childhood friend for this long, truly amazed her…

Kain opened his eyes after he knew that she'd definitely left the compartment. Hanabusa smirked at him patronizingly.  
"Even I thought that move was a bit too much…" He chuckled, contently amused.  
Kain frowned frustratingly, "I wasn't trying to do anything like that, and I just thought she might've been a bit cold. She was curled up like a cannonball over there in the corner."  
Hanabusa smirked again, "Maybe because she sensed she was being 'preyed' on."

He chuckled again to himself at his little joke, causing Kain to sigh resignedly.

"But you heard what she said earlier, Kaname-sama has _formally_ rejected her…" Hanabusa started, raising his feet upon Ruka's absent spot.  
"Yeah…" Kain replied, looking out the window uninterestedly.  
Hanabusa scowled and slapped the spot between his feet forcefully, as if trying to knock some sense into his fiery haired cousin.  
"So?! What are you gonna do about it?" He asked insolently.  
Kain blinked twice without answering.  
Hanabusa sighed disapprovingly.  
"I'm… not really going to do anything. I mean things haven't really changed; of course she still yearns for Kaname-sama… I just want her to be happy." Kain replied casually.  
"Well being rejected by somebody she's loved for all this time… I can't really picture how happy she is right now, you know…" Hanabusa said poignantly.

Kain looked out the train window uncomfortably. Of course she wasn't happy. He'd watched her break down after Kaname-sama (as she described it) 'beautifully' rejected her feelings.  
Her tears drove knives through his heart, like acid across his skin.

How he longed to hold her and tell her it was okay. To stroke her beautiful long chestnut hair and feel the warmth of her body cling to his. For _her_ to tell _him_ she wanted nothing more than to be held eternally in _his_ arms. But he wasn't stupid. They were always dreams, not reality. He knew that the object of his affection, his longing; his burning desire for so long would never reciprocate his feelings. Even though he'd loved her for so long… way longer than her undying obsession for Kaname-sama… he could never ever tell her how he felt.

He never wanted to loose the friendship between them, because once he told her… things would never be the same.  
And so goes the man with the unrequited love.

Kain thought back to when he first met Ruka, when he first and foremost… completely fell in love with her….

It was the beginning of summer and both Kain and Hanabusa's family had travelled together, reaching their traditional holiday manor. It was a custom to come together at the beginning of every season to the family home in order to reacquaint themselves with relatives and also 'come out' in society, as their parents described it.

"But you promised Akatsuki! You promised to help me get it!" Whined Hanabusa, chucking a book across the floor in a temper.

Kain sighed wearily. Even though they were both so young, he still stood a foot taller than his blonde immature brat of a cousin. Hanabusa looked up at him with teary light blue eyes, his lips slightly trembling.  
"But… we'll probably get caug-" Kain started to reply.  
"No we won't!" Insisted Hanabusa, cutting in over Kain.

Kain sighed again and rubbed his forehead. His cousin was giving him a headache…

"See if we go in the study when my Dad's greeting the guests…"  
"But if your dad confiscated it from you Hanabusa… then it's probably because it's dangerous for you to play with."

Kain was already in a bad mood. His mother had fitted him in the most uncomfortable tuxedo he had ever worn. He didn't even see why little kids had to even wear tuxedos… The whole evening will be as dull as ever… stupid grownups and their dinner parties… there wouldn't even be any kids… and his stupid cousin _DID NOT_ count…

"I just want it back, okay? It was part of my collection!" Bawled Hanabusa loudly.  
Kain rolled his eyes, "Your collections are weird anyway… they take up more than half your room space… I'd hate to share a room with you."  
"Stop being so mean, Akatsuki! You promised to help me!"  
"That was before I found out it was some random object from your creepy collections!"  
Hanabusa broke down on the floor, beginning another one of his infamous tantrums. They'd surely be found if he started that… And Kain _REALLY_ didn't want to be dragged into the  
ballroom by his mother…

"Okay fine! Just stop acting like a cry-baby all the time!"  
Hanabusa stopped crying and stood up quickly, "I'm not a cry-baby!"  
"You're a baby that cries."

"Well you know that all babies cry!"  
"So you're admitting you're a cry-baby?"  
"W-what? NO!"

Kain sighed again. God… How he wished to make more friends…

He grabbed Hanabusa's sleeve and dragged him towards the study, prepared to retrieve whatever stupid object had been previously confiscated from his cousin.

But they had no such luck.

Upon reaching the corridor, one of the housemaids had spotted them and began driving them towards the ballroom doors.  
Soon enough they were locked inside. Well basically… they still weren't tall enough to reach the door handle yet…

"Hanabusa! Akatsuki!" Came a high-pitched call from across the room.  
Both the boys turned slowly, afraid of what was to come.

Directly confirming their suspicions, Hanabusa's mother filed over and dragged them back over to her acquaintances.

"Boys! I have a big surprise for you!!" She began.  
They both groaned resignedly.

"We have somebody that we'd love for you to meet!!"  
From behind one of the lady's legs inched out a young girl who looked close to their own age. She held a fist over her mouth innocently and with the other was shyly grabbing onto her mother's lower dress. Her eyes shone a dark dusky rose colour and her short chestnut coloured hair was dressed up with a bow.

And somehow… out of everybody he had ever met in his whole entire life… she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen…

Kain felt a slight scarlet appear upon his cheeks as the girl stared directly into his own dark chocolate eyes.

"Boys, this is Ruka Souen. The _only_ daughter of the Souen family. Isn't that nice?" Hanabusa's mother crooned implicitly.

Both the boys nodded silently, staring at the little girl.

The mother of the daughter started to speak. "Ruka, Why don't you go play with these nice boys? I'm sure you'll find something fun to do." Her voice was soft and velvety.

The girl named Ruka nodded slightly and let go of her mother's dress, proceeding towards the boys.

The trio all walked silently til they found an uncrowded corner of the ballroom and sat down in a circle, facing each other.

Hanabusa decided to speak first, "By the way my name is Hanabusa and this is my cousin Akatsuki."

Ruka nodded again and decided to stretch her legs out across the floor.  
"So… What do you want to play?" Hanabusa asked again, starting to get irritated at the girl's silence.  
Ruka shrugged uninterestedly.  
Akatsuki almost burst out laughing when he saw his cousin's face greatly trying to keep calm.  
"Fine, if you don't want to pick... Then I'll choose something." Hanabusa answered crossly.

Ruka stopped watching the ballroom dances and shifted a glare towards Hanabusa.

"Games are for children." She said simply.

But it didn't matter how simply she said it, Kain couldn't help but feel a slight leap in his heart. It was the first time he'd heard her speak. She was so well poised and elegant for such a young child. Her voice matched that of her mother's soft beautiful and velvety vocals.

Hanabusa frowned frustratedly.

"You are a child!" He fumed.

Ruka shot him a cold glare. Why was she forced to play with these immature children? Couldn't she at least stay with her mother and acquaint herself with the adults?

This stupid blonde haired boy who wanted to play games…

And she didn't know what the fiery orangey haired boy was like yet…

She sighed irately.

This seemed to annoy Hanabusa more and more.

Kain could see that he would soon explode with his usual tantrum if he didn't intervene quickly…

"Hanabusa, if she doesn't want to play anything then just let it be." He said firmly, yet casual at the same time.

Hanabusa glared at Kain once, but complied by crossing his arms and huffing to the side.

Ruka turned to glance at Kain curiously and he once again found that familiar sensation lurch within his stomach accompanied by the faint crimson that spread across his cheeks…

Kain was knocked out of his thoughts by Hanabusa's overly loud remarks.

"Look Akatsuki… How about I help you out???" He asked eagerly.

Kain shot a rare nasty glare towards Hanabusa, which silenced him completely.

"I don't want any _help_ in anything. Just leave it be." Kain replied solemnly.

Hanabusa frowned indifferently. "But don't you think it's a good idea to help her finally get over Kaname-sama?"

Ruka finally reached the country train's bathroom, locking the door behind her. Why did they have to pick a carriage that was so far away from everything?

With an annoyed sigh she turned on the tap and threw some water on her face before glancing at her reflection in the mirror.

Was there anything so wrong with how she looked? Her long chestnut hair fell perfectly on each side of her face… despite her tired and lonely dusty crimson eyes.

Why didn't he want her? What did that girl have that she didn't? Pureblood…

Argh! Ruka smacked her forehead with her palm. She'd made a promise to get over all of this. It would be better for everyone if she stopped this stupid obsession… But how exactly was she supposed to disregard her sincere feelings from so long ago?

But she'd find a way... She had to.

Ruka didn't want to suffer anymore… She wanted somebody to love her back, someone she could always count on...

She sighed at herself in the mirror.

Time to get her act together…

Ruka unlocked the door and made her way back to their carriage.

"NO Hanabusa." Kain muttered irritably.

He didn't need to be force fed ideas on how to bring out his '_inner_' playboy.

"I'm just saying… maybe if you were a bit more persuasive and confident in your attitude towards her…"

"Ruka isn't one of your obsessive and immature day class fans."

Hanabusa sighed, "Your just shot gunning down all my ideas…"

"Because I never wanted any of your ideas in the first place."

Ruka slowly reached the carriage door, but froze immediately when her name was mentioned from inside. She quietly leaned in as far as possible to try make out what they were talking about.

Hanabusa sounded irritated.

"They are just ideas! It's not as if you have to immediately start anything now!"

"Hanabusa… This is _really_ none of your business."

"OF COURSE IT IS! You are both my oldest childhood friends. We've been parading around together since before I can even remember! So if Ruka has finally decided to give up on Kaname-sama then you should definitely…"

Ruka could feel her blood boiling. How dare that insolent blonde haired idiot speak about her private life! She was just about ready to burst through the compartment door and whack him hard across the face until Kain suddenly spoke.

"I don't really care about myself. I only want her to be happy."

Ruka froze immediately once again.

"But you've loved her for so long… It seems like you should at least get something out of it…" Hanabusa replied, this time softer and more caring.

"Love isn't about getting what you want, it's about giving." Kain replied, equally as soft.

Ruka couldn't believe what she was hearing… Kain… loved her? What? Since… When?

It wasn't long until she noticed her hand was slightly trembling on the compartment door handle.

But she didn't get time to think on it.

A sudden screeching of wheels scraping against the metal tracks below them sounded, causing the train to lunge forwards.

Ruka was thrown abrasively down the corridor from the sudden impact.

But it didn't stop there.

She could feel the train tumbling and turning, violent shakes erupting from all around her.

Plummeting until finally… it hit rock bottom with a deafening smash.


	2. Nostalgia

**Author's note: **Thankyou kindly for the inbox messages, they indeed made me feel loved and wanting to continue the story =) BUTTT I would feel happier if you reviewed as well as send me personal messages… they are nice… but review as well pwwweaseee XD

Also just before I uploaded the first chapter I thought of the name "Stuck" and I didn't mean it emotionally… even though it could be emotionally… but it'll definitely be physically 'stuck'. I know I'm very random and EXTREMELY bad at explaining things... butttt I don't want to give too much away ~kyaaa!! !

So yeah, enjoy chapter 2 xD

_Ps._ I really like flashbacks... so be prepared for THOUSANDS MORE. (well maybe not thousands… but then again… ~goes and locks herself in her room)  
_PPS._ Sorry for the BIG FAT DELAY in this chapter… it's just this weekend is one of Australia's biggest cons and I'm in charge of a HUGGGEE vampire knight cosplay group doing a skit… ~organising everything is death…  
~Woah sorry for the huge rants on my personal life… hope you guys enjoy the chapter =]

**Disclaimer:** Vampire Knight belongs to the wonderful Matsuri Hino. A big THANKYOU for creating one of my favourite anime/manga couples XD!!

**`CHAPTER 2**

Kain slowly opened his eyes. The strong smell of dust and smoking metal filling his nose.

He really wanted to get up… but he physically couldn't. He couldn't feel his legs… or arms… or really any limbs for that matter…

It was then that he heard the noise of rustling from somewhere behind him.

"Akatsu-" Someone called out, caught in mid sentence as a spluttering cough took over them.

"Akatsuki? Ruka?" The voice called again.

It was Hanabusa.

Kain opened his mouth to try uttering a reply, but soon realized he shouldn't have.

From in front of him, a cascading mountain of dust piled into his opened mouth, causing him to choke and splutter wildly.

But he soon felt a pulling on his useless limbs and he was dragged out from whatever the hell was pinning him down. Kain coughed again and an eruption of dust came flying out of both his mouth and nose.

Hanabusa crinkled his nose disgustedly.

"Well you're not looking too crash hot yourself, you know." Kain managed to gasp out, trying to regain control of his lungs.

It was true; Hanabusa sported a series of deep scratches to his cheek and dark bruising around his neck. He also looked like he'd stepped right out of a coal mine.

He frowned moodily and crinkled his nose. "Guess we should probably try to find-"

"Ruka!" Coughed Kain.

How could he even start to worry about what the hell Hanabusa looked like until he'd found out she was unharmed?

He started blindly marching towards the right, flipping over pieces of metal that were lying astray. She had to be here somewhere… He swore… if anything had happened to her.

Hanabusa started calling out her name from behind, "Ruka! Ruka! Where the hell are you?"

Kain joined in.

They'd been searching around the wreck for a good half an hour until finally Kain spotted a clump of wavy chestnut brown hair protruding from what looked like… one of the train compartment's doors.

Sprinting over while trying to put aside his own blinding pain that seared at his side, he wrenched the door off her with crazy speed.

And there she lay.

Hanabusa had obviously noticed Kain found her and came tumbling over towards them from behind. He peered over Kain's shoulder curiously which was then replaced by an expression of fury.

"Wha-Wha-How did she?" He managed to splutter out.

There Ruka lay, absolutely perfect as she always was. Her beautiful hair lay protectively around her doll-like face while her slender body was positioned in the fetal position.

There was hardly a scratch on her.

"How is that fair?! Both me and you are sitting on comfy train seats and get completely ripped apart… and the stupid princess makes a visit to the bathroom and comes out of it a winner?!?!" Hanabusa yelled heatedly.

Kain couldn't help but feel a flutter of relief course over him as he leant down to examine her closer. Her eyes were closed, encased by her beautifully long dark eyelashes. Kain paused as he gazed over her lips, those perfect luscious…

Hanabusa had obviously guessed what was going through Kain's mind.

"Go on, plant one on her then." He sniggered. "I wouldn't tell." He added deviously.

Kain sighed with annoyance and proceeded to gently wake her up.

It didn't take long. Kain didn't know whether it was Hanabusa's sniggers in the background or his voice that had stirred her… but she was awake and that was all that mattered.

"Wha-What?" She asked groggily.

Kain helped her to her feet.

"The train suddenly crashed and went off the rails…" Kain explained.  
"And then add a swan dive to that crash…" Hanabusa added, pointing up at the menacing cliff peaks from directly above them.

"Yeah I sorta felt like we were falling…" Ruka replied in a small voice.

She was still in shock.

"I wonder how we crashed… Are mortal train drivers nowadays just really uncoordinated?" Hanabusa asked frustratedly, still brushing off dust that had dirtied his jacket.

"Train drivers don't normally just 'crash' out of nowhere. There's always some sort of obstacle." Kain added, looking thoughtful.

He wondered if anybody on the train were still alive.

Once again, Hanabusa seemed to directly answer his unconscious thoughts.

"Looks like a massacre here… everybody's dead…" He said indifferently. "Maybe we could just feed off them since they're alread-"  
Ruka cut him off directly, "You're sick."

He frowned and pouted annoyingly.

"Well I suggest we move on… take what you need, if you can find anything that is… Staying put isn't really a smart choice of action considering what's just happened." Kain told them.

He looked out towards their landscape.

Dark, dusty, barren and unresourceful.

Great, just what they needed…

"I guess taking the blood tablets before we left was a good idea after all." Hanabusa pointed out.

"I told you... Since we have to use mortal transport, taking our dose of tablets was necessary. They always check your belongings at the border and sticking out as abnormal is something we really can't afford to reveal right now… Especially since now we're involved in Kaname-sama's fight, keeping a low profile is essential because we can't go advertising our whereabouts." Kain replied gravely.

Ruka's head immediately snapped up. "Wait what did you say?"

Kain turned around to face her. "That we have to keep a low profile?"  
"No… about the tablets...?" She asked.  
"I told you to take the 2-week dose before we left… remember? You did right?" Kain replied anxiously.  
Ruka stopped in her tracks, unable to answer directly.

She'd forgotten to take them… Being told by Kaname-sama directly that they would never… Ruka had other things on her mind. Like a robot she packed her suitcases blindly…  
Was she a complete idiot? How could she forget something like this?!

She had some spare blood tablets in her suitcase… but…

Firstly, she'd have to find it…  
Secondly, Kain would think of her as an idiot… Completely hopeless and pathetic because she was too busy crying than thinking straight when packing her own freaking suitcase…

No.

There was absolutely no way she'd tell him.

She wasn't weak… stupid or pathetic…

She was strong Ruka… and would definitely make it.

Realising Kain was still staring at her apprehensively; she answered quickly "Err yeah, sorry I did. I'm just a little… spaced out from the crash."

Kain stared at her suspiciously but eventually gazed away towards the horizon.  
"Okay then… we got around 2 weeks before we start getting crazed for blood. So I suggest we start moving before sunrise."  
"But… we are stuck in the middle of the freaking desert… and what happens when the sun rises? I HATE THE SUN!" Hanabusa whined irritatingly.  
"Look… there's really nothing we can do about it, okay? If we're lucky there might be some sort of shelter along the way." Kain replied casually.

Hanabusa started to huff immaturely and began marching angrily towards the opposite direction of the crash.

"I guess we're going this way then…" Kain sighed tiredly. He looked over at Ruka.

Something was definitely up. She was looking slightly paler than usual and her eyes weary.

"Are you okay to walk?" Kain asked her.

Ruka looked up startlingly.

"Wha-? Oh yeah I'm fine. Let's go." She answered with a slight tinge of anxiety in her voice.

Ruka began to take off after Hanabusa.

She could already start to feel the effects of her blood lust. She couldn't even remember the last time she took those damn pills… With being so emotionally drained the past few weeks, everything had kinda just flown by.

Had it been a week already? It felt like it… and now they were stuck in the middle of nowhere… without resources or anything…

Her head felt like it was gonna explode… her eyes ached with insomnia… her throat felt dry…

It was definitely going to be a long long night…

It felt like hours… days… years…

He could even hear Kain's long slow dragging of his feet through the sand…

Hanabusa was bored… annoyed… and extremely pissed off.  
What kind of luck was this? Stuck in the middle of nowhere with no-one but Barbie and Action Man for company…

And now everybody was so tired that even talking took up too much energy…

Hanabusa sighed dismally.

"Hey guys, how about we take a break?" He asked cheerfully.  
"Again?" Ruka fumed, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Hanabusa… We've had about 4 already in the last 2 hours…" Kain added.  
"It's only been TWO HOURS?" Hanabusa whined immaturely.

Kain and Ruka sighed in unison.

"Actually… Akatsuki… I could really do with a break…" Ruka said suddenly.

Kain stopped immediately. "Yeah sure."

Hanabusa clucked impatiently. His stupid cousin was so obvious… He wondered why the heck Ruka hadn't noticed it yet… But then again she'd always been a completely selfish imbecile.

He plunked himself down on the gritty sand and lay back to watch the stars.

"Hey do you guys remember when we used to sit under the stars when we were little?" He asked them warmly.

"Yeah I remember." Kain replied quietly.

"I sort of remember… but it's more like déjà vu…" Ruka added in.

Kain shifted uncomfortably. Of course she wouldn't remember it. They were times _before_ her Kaname obsession began. Times before they'd met him…

"Hey do you guys know what to do when a shooting star crosses the sky!" The young Hanabusa chirped out enthusiastically.

Upon not hearing a response from neither Kain nor Ruka, he took it upon himself to answer his own question.

"It means you have to make a promise of a lifetime with the person your watching the stars with!" Hanabusa stated earnestly. "But I've never been able to see one…" He added sadly.

"That's because your always falling asleep you dummy." Ruka replied teasingly.

"No I don't! I've never fallen asleep out here!" Hanabusa fired up. "Wh-Whyyy" He started again but was caught in mid sentence by a stifling yawn.

"Like now…" Kain added in.

"No I'm not-ttt falling aslee-just resting myyy eye-" Hanabusa yawned wearily.

Then after a minute's of silence they could both hear his soft snore.

"That idiot…" Growled Ruka.

"I wonder if we'll see it." Kain suddenly said.  
"See what?"  
"The shooting star."  
"What if we did? What kind of promise would we make?"

Kain suddenly felt gratitude towards the darkness of night as his cheeks burned hot.

"I… don't know."  
"It should be something about us always sticking together!" Ruka chirped happily.

Kain felt a small smile play across his face. Always sticking together with Ruka. It almost sounded like a dream to him.

A sudden burst of cold wind caused Ruka to yelp surprisingly and cling on close to Kain's arm. He felt his heart leap. They'd never been this close before, well except for that time where they shared a bed…

"Even when we growned up bigger Akatsuki, will you still remember this promise?" Ruka whispered into his ear.  
He felt goose bumps on his neck. Her head was now softly resting on his shoulder and he could smell her sweet sweet scent. It was warm… and smelt faintly like dusky rose incense.  
"Always." He replied simply.  
"Promise me now that you'll never ever give up on me even if I get stupid… which I won't! But incase something stupid happens, you'll never forget this."  
"Forget... what?" Kain breathed.

And then he felt it… the softest most delicate feeling that he'd ever felt before in his whole entire life. Ruka's lips upon his cheek.  
He felt his breath catch in his throat, his heart pumped so loud that he felt he was in danger of her hearing it.

But she didn't say anything. She only rest her head back onto his shoulder and that's exactly when he saw it.

A quick shot of light out of the corner of his eye, racing out of his vision…

But her affections didn't linger…

It wasn't long until the arrival of Kaname-sama… Until the arrival of Ruka's obsession…

They'd only heard about him through word of mouth. The boy who lost his family…

Kain, Ruka and Aido sat inside the summer vacation house against the windows. The rain drizzled heavily outside, occasionally making the trees against the house bang against the wall opposite them loudly.

"Imagine losing your family like that…" Muttered Ruka sadly. "He must be very sad…"

Her face looked unusually down as if bearing the weight of the world. If Kain didn't know any better he would've thought she'd been crying.

"Yeah… but he's a pureblood. They get whatever they want so does it really matter?" Hanabusa said coldly, staring out the window.

Ruka unexpectedly threw a book at him from across the floor.

"OW! What the hell was that for stupid RUKA?!" Hanabusa yelled indignantly.  
"Don't! D-D-Don't talk about Kaname-s-s-sama like t-t-hat!" She replied nervously.

Both Aido and Kain stared at her bewilderedly. Did… did she just add Sama to his name?

"Ruka… why did you just add-" Kain started to ask.

"You two have no r-r-right to speak about him that way!" Ruka blurted out while standing up hurriedly.

Her face was very flushed and she looked slightly out of breath.

"But you've never even met him you dummy." Hanabusa said angrily. "So what gives YOU the right to talk about him using a Sama prefix and all!"

"Because I lov-." Ruka stopped short in her sentence, fighting off a furious blush. She flicked out the ends of her short hair and straightened out her dress.  
"Because he deserves it." She replied simply and coolly. Ruka then proceeded to leave the room, slighting marching towards the door in a hurry.

When she had left, Hanabusa let out a snort of laughter. "Well what the hell was THAT about."

Kain had kept his eyes on the floor the whole time. He was kind of afraid to look up. To witness what he was sure was going on…

Ruka… Ruka… Loved Kaname.

Her behaviour continued over the next few weeks, months even. Her slight dedication to the young pureblood they had never met had become increasingly intense…

She would relate everything she was doing to Kaname 'sama'.

Everything she ate was for Kaname-sama's sake.

Everything she wore was to please Kaname-sama.

Every morning that she had her hair styled… thinking that he might 'drop by' was for… him.

Kain had felt it… A hole in his heart…. Slowly gaping wider and wider…

As time went on, Ruka spoke to both Hanabusa and him less…

But Kain could never turn away… not after the promise he made her that one night…

Hanabusa's shrieks awoke Kain from his memories.

He was, as usual, yelling profanities at Ruka who, as usual, was provoking his tempered state.  
All three of them were still on the dusty desert ground, watching the stars.

He could still smell that faint aroma of dusky rose… Ruka's enticing scent…

But a faint sound of rustling stopped him in his tracks. He could've sworn he just heard…

Then the sound came again, this time louder, closer, faster…

The other two immediately jumped onto their feet, waiting in anticipation. Kain joined them, listening carefully.

"Is it just me… or can I smell…?" Hanabusa said apprehensively.  
"Blood." Kain finished his sentence, aware of the smell himself.

Then the sound came again… footsteps… and lots of them. It sounded as if a whole horde of people were rushing towards them. The sounds encircled them, boxing them into a tight circle.

Until finally they drove closer, coming into the moonlight…

They were outnumbered by a whole gang of E level vampires.


	3. Bloodlust

**Author's note: **Just this morning I was like, OKAY IM GONNA DO CHAP 3 TODAY, YOSH!! And I signed on and found I had a couple more messages telling me to hurry the beep up. LOL, actually thankyou XD For some reason people swearing at me or fake swearing at me actually pressures me to hurry the beep up =]

Well sorry for the horrible updates guys… its been like MOARR THAN 2 WEEKS AND NO NEW CHAPTER *slaps myself* Gahh I've been just so busy with uni. Our cosplay skit went well though XD At the last minute I forgot I hadn't drawn Zero's tattoo on him and we were both like GAHHH and pulled his collar up really high so nobody would notice *giggles evilly behind stage curtain* =]

~Anyway so enjoy the next chapter ^^ I hope the story isn't moving along too slow -_-;

AND SORRY no flashbacks this time… *had nothing to write about*

**Disclaimer:** Vampire Knight belongs to the wonderful Matsuri Hino. A big THANKYOU for creating one of my favourite anime/manga couples XD!!

* * *

**`CHAPTER 3**

The E level vampires drove in closer, snapping their jaws viciously. They were completely surrounded.

Kain knew it. He just knew something was going on… That the train crash was no accident. Had they assumed that Kaname-sama was travelling amongst them?

But he had no time to think upon it as the vampires drew dangerously closer. Hanabusa could pretty much handle himself, he was sure of that.

Aido's frame next to him was stretched out fiercely, ready for battle.

Kain glanced to his left.

Ruka stood undoubtedly rigid, her hands clenched into fists. Her face was terrified yet struggling to gain a calm control… He had to protect her from harm…

A loud screeching sound filled the air as the three of them realized that the first vampire had lunged themselves blindly towards them.

Hanabusa swiftly darted in front of Kain and sped towards the charging vampire.

With a sickening crunch they collided and began thrashing at each other violently.

Unfortunately the other vampires took that as the signal to attack.

They lunged from each side, flying through the air like rabid wolves.

Kain focused his mind and send a wall of flame singeing around them. They heard the vampires cry out in pain.

Suddenly a dark shadow hurdled through the flames and landed on all fours right in front of Kain and Ruka.

"Were you planning on scorching me a new face Akatsuki?! I didn't know you were so jealous of how attractive I am."

Kain let out a sigh of frustration and helped Hanabusa up from the ground.

"It's not my fault if you go charging in like that." He replied with annoyance.

"Well if I knew we were going all out I would've frozen them. Seeing as it's less dangerous than being burnt to a crisp." He pouted reproachfully.

They both swerved around to check on Ruka, who was still standing taut and rigid with her hands clenched at each side.

"Well you were a big help." Hanabusa sniggered teasingly.

Kain roughly shoved Hanabusa aside and put his hands on her shoulders.

"It's okay, they're gone."

She seemed to snap out of her state and looked into Kain's eyes timidly.

He'd never seen her that worked up.

"Actually Akatsuki, I think a couple are still lurking about…" Hanabusa called from behind them.

Kain turned his head to nod at him.

"Ruka, stay here. Hanabusa and I will be back in a second. You'll be safe here only if you STAY PUT."

Ruka nodded softly and Kain turned to join Hanabusa as they disappeared through the wall of fire.

She fell slowly to the ground, grasping hard at her throat.

* * *

It wasn't the vampires that had her spooked… it was what she wanted to do to them…

As soon as their scent filled the air, it had washed over her.

Like drowning in a soft warm pool of something rich and thick… like… chocolate…

The sweet scent of blood… the vampires reeked of it.

She'd felt urges… terrible violent urges…  
An urge to seek them out and rip them apart, draining every last lick of fluid in their new-fangled bodies…

Ruka had felt so surprised with the alien thoughts that possessed her mind; she'd been completely frozen in fear. Now both the boys thought her an idiot… a coward…

Why hadn't she told them about the tablets when they were at the train?

If they'd thought her an idiot back then… what would they think of her now?

Hanabusa with his stupid snide remarks… and Akatsuki with his…

Ruka gasped out loud.

She'd completely forgotten due to the sudden action-packed events of the last few hours.

The last thing that was heard on the train, before…

Kain had said he loved her…

Oh god… oh god... oh god… How could she have been so stupid?

The way he always looked out for her… how she had always whined about Kana- about him.

Ruka had been completely rubbing it in his face this whole time…

She suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of sorrow, which was really not helpful with the unexpected violent rage of bloodlust soaring within her.  
It's not like she could ever really return his feelings, but he'd always been there for her and she admit they definitely had a special bond of friendship.

She'd always made it so hard for him… well, not anymore. He would never know how unhappy and depressed she felt and especially nothing about her stupidity of not telling them about the blood tablets. It was time to stop whining like a stupid human brat and get the hell over herself…

* * *

"Is this the last one?" Kain called out as he watched a violently screaming vampire writhing on the ground, disintegrate into ashes.

"No…" Hanabusa replied uneasily. He turned to face Kain. "I swear I haven't seen the first one I lunged at. I remember damaging one of his ribs pretty bad but I never got the chance to finish him off…"  
"Because of me…" Kain answered remorsefully.

"Akatsuki your attack killed most of them." Hanabusa said encouragingly.  
"Yeah but now we have a lone vampire out there waiting for it's chance to rip us up."  
"It's only one you know. We can handle ourselves."

Kain sighed disappointedly. "We better get back to Ruka."  
Hanabusa nodded in agreement.

But a loud piercing screech filled their ears.

Both exchanging looks of terror, they tore off in Ruka's direction.

She didn't know what she was doing… There was no control over her actions anymore; it was just following her instincts.

The vampire screeched softer this time, its vocal chords weakening. Ruka could feel it's energy being sucked into her… It's life-force… it's essence.

It started thrashing about helplessly, trying to force Ruka from its neck… but she was too strong, too bloodthirsty and desperate for the kill.

Ruka had heard the vampire stalking her, trying to box her in. As if it thought she were weak. But she wasn't…

"RUKA!" Two voices called out in unison from behind her.

She immediately severed herself from the vampire and fell backwards into the dirt in absolute bewilderment. She'd been so entranced…

But the vampire still had some strength left and pounced.

Still in shock, Ruka sat motionless as she felt it looming slowly towards her.

But a heavy thud knocked it from its path and the two figures began rolling aggressively across the dusty ground.

Hanabusa sat down in front of her.

"It's okay, Kain's taking care of it. Did it hurt you?"

"E-e-errr no." Ruka said quickly and hastily wiped the bloodstains from around her lips.

It was dark; they couldn't have seen what she was doing. As far as they were concerned, it was hurting her. Ruka sighed with relief.

They both heard Kain yell in pain as a long flame flickered upwards and engulfed one of the shadows.

"Akatsuki!" Hanabusa yelled out.

"Yeah…" A voice answered with a groan.

Both Hanabusa and Ruka looked at each other anxiously then immediately raced towards Kain.

He was lying on the ground whilst holding his ribs and wincing in pain. Both of them could smell the bloody wound.

"Akatsuki…" Hanabusa started.

Kain cut him off directly and attempted to regain a sitting position. "I'm fine, I just-"

He let out another painful wince.

Hanabusa pushed Kain back to the ground forcefully and ripped off the left side of his shirt causing Ruka to flinch slightly.

That smell… the delicious scent of sweet blood. She'd never really noticed Kain's scent before. It wasn't that bad. It sent out a kind of mint-flavoured aroma, sort of like eucalyptus leaves. Or was it just because she hadn't fed in a while?

Ruka could feel her throat becoming dry again.

Hanabusa had already begun dressing Kain's wound. The vampire seemed to have damaged his lower rib because Kain was having difficulties trying to sit back up.

"Ruka do you have like… a strong hair pin or anything at all?" Hanabusa asked her.

"Err yeah." She pulled a couple of fashion safety pins from her pocket.

"Thanks."

Once Hanabusa was done, both he and Ruka helped Kain into an upright position by leaning on both of them.

"How did you even get hurt anyway?" Ruka asked agitatedly. Their close proximity really wasn't helping her bloodlust.

"It wasn't his fault that you can't take care of yourself! He bloody saved you!" Hanabusa answered her angrily.

"That's not what I meant!" Ruka replied alarmingly.

"I guess… I just wasn't thinking." Kain replied simply.

Ruka felt a slight twinge of guilt in her stomach. She actually hated lying to him. He was hurt because of her. It was all her fault. Why did she always make matters worse?

"I… I'm sorry." Ruka rumbled feebly.

"What are you talking about, it's not your fault. We shouldn't have left you by yourself when it was still dangerous." Kain replied guiltily.

"Well anyway, look guys. We need to keep moving. Something's going on here and if we stay put then we'll be vulnerable. Maybe there's like a hut or house nearby…" Hanabusa butted in.

Ruka looked at Kain. "Will you be able to move?"

He nodded solemnly. "Yeah I'll be-" He winced again. "Fine."

They both helped him up and supported each side as they began to set off again.

* * *

"Well that sure as hell wasn't the break I expected..." Hanabusa muttered heatedly.

He knew things weren't good. Akatsuki's wound was actually pretty bad. He needed some serious medical treatment and at the speed they were going at… it really wasn't looking good…

Hanabusa wasn't sure how long they'd all stumbled on for. An hour… or two?

He was definitely starting to see illusions... Could he see a light in the distance?

"Can anybody else see that?" Ruka asked brashly.

He knew it. It was definitely a house.

"Come on let's get moving." Hanabusa replied.

They both dragged Kain between them anxiously at full speed.

A small house came into view; it's front windows shining from the warmth of the inside light.

Hanabusa pounded on the door. "Is anybody home?"

He continued pounding until he eventually gave up and broke off the door handle with a forceful snatch.

The inside was actually quite cosy. An old fireplace sat on the opposite side of the room, which was accompanied with piles upon piles of antiques along its mantelpiece.

"Ruka, quickly we need to put Kain down." Hanabusa said hurriedly.

"Why, what's wrong?" Ruka asked in alarm.

Hanabusa grimaced but didn't answer. He instead began pulling them in the direction of the nearest door.

He had noticed the feverish symptoms that had just started to take control of Kain's immune system while they were walking. Kain wouldn't be able to travel any further.

They pulled Kain into the room and placed him down upon a large bed.

"Blankets, Blankets. Ruka look for some." Hanabusa said.

She darted out of the room and opened another door. It was the kitchen.

She was about to leave when a familiar scent evaded her nostrils. That sweet delicious smell of…

Ruka entered the kitchen and gasped.

An old couple were sprawled across the floor, their limbs hanging loosely… their neck punctured…

"Hey Ruka, What's that smell-" Hanabusa called from behind her.

He followed her gaze and scrunched up his nose at the lifeless victims.

"I'll take care of these too… You take these to Akatsuki."

He handed her a bundle of blankets as he fled past her into the kitchen.

Ruka literally had to force herself out of the room. The smell was too strong. It pervaded her senses and bore complete control over her. If Hanabusa hadn't _appeared_ at that _exact_ time she'd probably be devouring what was left of them.

She entered the bedroom.

Akatsuki was lying down with his head to one side. His eyes were unfocused.

Ruka sat down next to Kain and sprawled the blankets over him. He shivered momentarily.

"Akatsuki… Is there… anything you need? Water… or…" Ruka whispered weakly.

She'd never seen him so damaged and wounded. It was just an E level vampire and only one at that… Why was he so sick?

Ruka heard Hanabusa's footsteps enter the room.

"Leftovers from our friends I'll bet." He muttered with annoyance.

Ruka wanted to ask what we did with the bodies… but forced herself not to. She didn't want to risk loosing control and feed off them in secret. Not to mention how disgusting-

"Ruka I have to tell you the truth here." Hanabusa suddenly said, breaking into her thoughts.

She looked up at him uneasily.

"There's… something unusual about Akatsuki's wound. I don't really know why or how… but I think it's poisoning him."

"P-p-p-poisonn?!" Ruka uttered anxiously.

He nodded solemnly.

"Something fast and active. Sometime to kill vampires."

"K-k-kill?! He's not going to… die?"

"I'm not sure." He replied gravely.

Hanabusa stood up and unexpectedly hurled the bedside table against the opposite wall in an angry thud. He ran his fingers through his hair stressfully.

"Ruka if we all stay here, Akatsuki will _die_."


	4. Distractions

**Author's note: **I decided that another chapter was due since my last one was delayed =p

Lately my inspirational streak has SUCKED MAJORLY.

I know the last chapter wasn't as long. I actually originally planned it to go on for two more pages on Microsoft Word… but whenever I see the word 'die' as the last word in a sentence I just get chills XD ~therefore the last word was die. It's so dramatic XDDDDDDD KYAA!

AND I've now given the chapters names, O HO HO HO.

Oooh, I also came across this awesome saying: "Kain is not Kain unless he has an open shirt" - I read that somewhere and literally sighed out loud. KAIN IS SO DAMN HAWTTT!

And I just want to say the word THREESOME and get it over with. –giggles uncontrollably-

I'll also mention that I'm sorry for making Ruka so uptight all the time… I promise she'll get better XDDD !!!!!!

_Update_ – sorry guys this was supposed to be up last night but I have MAJORLY SCARY WINDS here and they like cut me off the internet for a while… -_-"

**Disclaimer:** Vampire Knight belongs to the wonderful Matsuri Hino. A big THANKYOU for creating one of my favourite anime/manga couples XD!!

* * *

"Ruka if we all stay here, Akatsuki will die."

She tried to stop the flow that was now streaming from her eyes. But it was so use. Everything was just too much. Too much had happened in just a short time. It hardly felt real anymore, like she'd wake up from a bad dream.

"Okay then we should leave now-" Ruka started.

"No… What I mean is… If Akatsuki comes with us now it'll only slow us down and we really need to buy him some time."

"So your saying we should just leave him here?!"

Hanabusa sighed and hit his forehead with a hand. "No. One of us should go get help and the other stay here and protect him."

Ruka looked over at Akatsuki. She could still smell the scent of his wound… alluring her… taking over her senses. It was dangerous for her here.

"I want you to stay here Ruka." Hanabusa said, yawning tiredly.

She choked slightly. There was no way. As if she could spend another day here… without her tablets.

"It's better for me to go because it's a long road along Ruka. I'll need to go back home."

She whisked around to stare at him. "Go home?"

He nodded slightly. "I think they'll know what to do about this. They've got way more experience with what's going on right now. They'll know how to treat him… they have to."

Ruka closed her eyes wearily and lay her head down on the soft bed. She was so tired…

"Hanabusa… Tell me the truth… How long do you think Akatsuki has…?"

"He'll make it. Trust me. If I leave now I'll be slow and weak, so I think I'll rest for a bit before I set out…"

His sentence faded out and was replaced by a loud snore.

Stupid blonde… haired… va… mpi… re.

It was only moments before Ruka followed the same suit.

She felt boxed in… But in a good way… As if padded in on both sides by soft and silky pillows… Warm and cozy…

Ruka's eyes slowly swept open. Everything was unfocused and she felt a little dizzy… but there was still that same feeling of warmth that had been present in her dream.

Sitting up slowly, Ruka rubbed her eyes and gained a little more focus on her surroundings and let out a gasp of dismay.

Either side of her slept both Akatsuki and Hanabusa with both their bodies facing towards her. She'd just began to realize how uncomfortably close they'd all been as she sprung out of the bed and landed on the floor with a thud.

Both boys began to stir and yawn.

She'd slept with both of them. Together. At the same time.

A threesome… THREE SOME.

Shameful… HOW SHAMEFUL.

How could she show her face in society after this?!

Hanabusa opened his eyes and sat up while stretching out his arms in a yawn. He looked over to Akatsuki and unexpectedly yelped, causing him to fall down the side of the bed upon the floor.

"YOU! You- We were… What?" Hanabusa stuttered bewilderedly.

Kain opened his eyes drowsily. "What's going on?"

"We all fell asleep in the bed." Ruka said simply. She was now standing against the wall opposite the bed. All they did was sleep in the same bed. So what if they were all close, it was cold… Plus they were all childhood friends anyway… It's not like anything of them had a thing for each othe- Oh crap, She thought.

"We all slept in the same bed?" Kain asked them.

Hanabusa stood up and drew a hand through his hair.

"We were all pretty messed up." He answered.

Ruka shifted uncomfortably.

"But in my defence, I was _NOT_ in the middle." He added in, leering in Ruka's direction.

She threw back a dirty glare.

"Oh." Kain replied.

He felt a slight blush cross his cheeks. It now made sense how her soft dusky scent had been so vivid in his dreams… She'd been only centimetres away from him…

In his dream where she ever so gracefully reached her arms up around his neck and pulled him closer… Close enough to feel the burning heat of his body against hers…

So it was a common reoccurring dream fantasy for him but he suddenly felt even more perverted for visualizing it when she was in the room… As if she knew what he was dreaming… Eurgh, how dirty he felt…

"Are you feeling any better?" Hanabusa asked him suddenly, breaking Kain out of his guilty thoughts.

"Err yeah, a little. I think the bleeding has stopped because I don't feel as weak as I did before."

Hanabusa's worried frown softened a little. "Okay well that's good. But I better get going."

"Going? Now?" Kain asked awkwardly. He wasn't sure if he was up to leaving just yet.

Sure he felt a little better, but not by much…

Hanabusa sat back down on the bed. "Akatsuki… I'm leaving to go get some help."

Kain widened his eyes in alarm. Help? For what? He heard Ruka slip silently onto the very edge of the bed.

"I don't… I don't understand. Why do we need hel-"

"Because your wound isn't like any other Akatsuki. An attack like the one you took wouldn't have caused so much damage. Something is definitely wrong."

Kain blinked bewilderedly.

"So I need to go home, get some help. Someone experienced."

"Home…" Kain groaned objectively. The last thing he needed was his parents finding out about how careless he'd been…

"Just shut up and let him take care of it." Ruka said abruptly.

Kain stared at her in alarm. Hanabusa followed.

She felt a slight flush across her cheeks.

"I mean, Hanabusa knows what he's doing so just do what we say."

Hanabusa nodded silently and got up off the bed.

"I'll try get back as soon as possible… Four days at the least. Just _don't_ go off anywhere." He told them firmly as his blonde curls disappeared around the door.

Kain glanced at Ruka, but didn't say anything.

"I'll go get you some water." She said hastily.

It truly was all her fault that Kain was hurt. He really still was on the verge of… _death_.

She had to make it up to him… She decided to make sure he was well looked after til Hanabusa came back.

After she'd returned from the kitchen with his water, Kain had already fallen back asleep. Ruka placed the glass on the bedside table then glanced over at him.

She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to get him out of the blood stained clothes…

For one, she didn't want to go near anything remotely connected to the liquid and two, considering the information she'd just found out about him… it wasn't a wise choice for her to physically 'undress' him. Sending the wrong messages was not something she needed right now, especially with the two of them alone.

She watched him sleep for a little while, still contemplating about the clothes. The long sleeved blue shirt he was wearing was ripped across his chest so she could see him breathing in and out. The shirt was slid slightly off his shoulder as well…

Ruka felt a slight pounding in her heart. Kain's neck was in full view as if begging… teasing her to taste him. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to force away any images and shake away the blood lust. If she was going to care for him, they'd have to be at least this close… and she'd have to deal with it normally.

But she could still feel it. The burning in her throat… how it longed for her to reach over and sink her teeth into that warm… soft… delicate…

URGH.

Ruka jumped up hastily and sped out of the room. She'd definitely have to do something about those clothes… She was sure the old couple would have had some. A turtle neck sweater perhaps?

* * *

A couple of hours had past and Ruka had successfully not gone crazy. It seemed that focusing her mind on exploring the house was doing wonders for her sanity. She'd managed to scavenge some actual stylish clothes from one of the cottage's storage rooms, most likely the property of their son.

She'd also taken a cold shower, which surprisingly improved her mood.

The cottage was only one story but it had plenty of space. They had a huge living room, kitchen and two bedrooms with ensuites.

But after her long period of 'touring' the house… Ruka knew she couldn't really leave Kain alone for long when he was badly injured.

She entered the bedroom.

Kain was awake, his eyes open and staring out the early evening window.

"I thought it would be better if you changed your shirt."

Ruka held out a bunch of clothes and placed them on the bed in front of him.

He looked at her awkwardly.

"What? It was the best I could come up with." She huffed impatiently.

He shook his head silently.

"Err… I don't think I can actually…" Kain trailed off uneasily.

Ruka looked at him despairingly. He wouldn't dare… he wouldn't ask her to… CHANGE HIM?!

He looked up, noticing a slight sense of panic upon her face.

"No really, it's okay. Just leave things as they are." Kain said simply.

She gulped hopelessly. Even though she could think of a thousand different things wrong with what she was going to do… It had to be done.

"Stay still." Ruka whispered uncomfortably.

* * *

Kain felt his body go numb.

No.

There was no way that she was going to change him.

How pathetic could a man feel? And especially in front of her…

He was wounded, weak and generally helpless… What a complete turn-on…

"Ruka, it's really fine… I don't want you doing something that's uncomfortab-"

"Shutup and stay still."

Kain widened his eyes but kept silent.

She reached out to his shoulder and carefully slid the torn fabric down his arm. Even though he could tell she was trying to get this over with as soon as possible, her touch was gentle and soft against his skin. He could feel himself getting goose bumps already.

Kain forced himself to look at anything but her face… her beautiful porcelain lips were only inches away from his chest.

Try to think of anything… anything but her.

But it was impossible… How the hell could she make taking off his shirt seem to erotic to him?

Eurgh, no it wasn't her fault. She didn't even care. It was all him.

Ruka leaned a little closer and pulled the shirt off around his back. Kain had to literally hold his breath.

They'd never really gotten this close before. Ever.

Well maybe when they were little… But he had hormones now... and they were driving him crazy… _She_ was driving him crazy.

All he wanted to do right now was pull her close. Breathe in that delicious scent and trace his fingers through her beautiful long hair… Then pull her in tighter for a soft kiss that got hungrier and passionate… then…

STOP. JUST STOP.

He had to stop torturing himself.

"Shirt's off." She said.

Kain opened his eyes quickly. In all his stupid imaginations he hadn't even realised that she was no longer reaching in towards him, but now standing up and choosing a shirt for him to wear.

It was over. The short span of time that Ruka had officially-

Kain winced suddenly, grasping his lower ribs.

Ruka flung around in alarm.

"Akatsuki?!" She asked timidly.

"Ouch, I think I'm bleeding again…" Akatsuki replied irritably. "I'll need more bandages…"

He looked up to see Ruka eyeing him apprehensively.

"It's okay, I can bandage it myself." Kain told her uncertainly.

She looked different, felt different. Her knuckles were white as they grasped the bundle of freshly t-shirts she'd just picked out. Her eyes crammed with fear and... Apprehension?

Was she _scared_ of him?

"Y-yeah, hang on. I think I saw a first aid kit in the kitchen." She replied hastily and sped out of the room.

Ruka flung open the door to the kitchen and sank down on the floor.

It had almost happened. She had almost _pounced_ on him.

The bloodlust was at an impossible and uncontrollable level now. She could feel her fangs throbbing with excitement… her throat screaming in thirst… her eyes now transformed into that dangerous blood red.

If she went back into that room… Ruka would _for sure_ bite Kain.

She stood up from the cold tiles and started pacing around the kitchen in circles. If someone needed to get blood fast… How would they do it? Her eyes focused on the freezer.

Cold meat?

No. It would be frozen… and besides animal blood never did anything for her thirst anyway…

Then her eyes suddenly fell upon bloodstained tiles…

The scent Ruka was following led her outside into the icy nighttime air. It was so close she could almost feel the taste of it floating around her mouth.

Where had Hanabusa hid them? She circled the backyard for a little while, trying to separate Kain's ridiculously strong scent from the lifeless bodies. And then she felt it. She was so close it was almost maddening.

Ruka looked below her and noticed the earth was freshly dug.

They were six feet under.

* * *

Kain winced again as he felt the warm liquid seep into the bed sheets underneath him.

Where the hell was she?! And what was taking her so long?

He decided to get up, which wasn't really the best of ideas. His head throbbed madly and his wound pierced his senses like a sharp dagger had been plunged into him. But something was wrong… Something was definitely wrong…

He made his way to the bedroom door, clutching his side firmly. The once white bandages were now completely bloodstained, not a trace of colour left.

Kain had just collapsed through the kitchen door when he saw the first aid kit lying abandoned upon the kitchen counter.

Where was she?

He began to panic. What if some more e-level vampires had come? If she'd been hurt he could never forgive himself.

Kain winced again. The pain had gotten even more intense. It was getting hard for him to stand up… but he had to find her…

* * *

All she could think about was digging. She wasn't even worried with how she looked. Her clothes dirt stained and her hands turned into claws as she tore through the ground.

Ruka felt disgusting… looked disgusting… But none of that mattered. None of it mattered until it was over… until she gained her sanity again.

Nobody would have to know what she'd done… what her actions had reduced her to.

She was clawing her way through the dirt to search for dead bodies in which she could drink from. It didn't get anymore disgusting than that. She was supposed to be of noble blood… from a noble family… Why had she let her stupid ego get in the way? She should have told them both about the pills…

Everything had just gotten steadily worse.

Suddenly she felt something soft… Ruka hungrily yanked it out of the ground and realised it was an arm. She followed it up to a shoulder and then…

Ruka clutched herself to the body's neck, draining… feeding…

She felt the delicious liquid slide down her throat warmly… making her body tingle with exhilaration.

She could already feel herself calming down slightly, making her think straight.

"Ru-Ruka?" Called out a voice from behind her.

Ruka immediately detached herself from the body and shot up to her feet, facing towards the cottage.

She caught eyes with Kain as he stood on the porch steps, clutching at his side painfully and staring at her in horror.

Ruka stood there silently, her eyes wide with panic.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked.


	5. Willpower

**Author's note:** As you've all probably noticed, I love my awesome cliffhangers at the end of every chapter. I feel as if people won't come back and read the next one. =(

Also if you like the story and decide to fav or subscribe then PLEASEEE REVIEW ASWELL.

I LOVEEE hearing your thoughts and it helps me write as well.

It has also occurred to me that I might not write to everybody's liking… Just going back and reading through some of my stuff, its all very action/drama ish and not very romantic… IM SORRY, I'm a heartless tomboy who plays too much Halo and has gotten used to killing things… -_-  
But I'll try my best to delve into the romance =p HANG IN THERE!

(And aren't dreams nice? –giggles at her creation-)

**Disclaimer:** Vampire Knight belongs to the wonderful Matsuri Hino. A big THANKYOU for creating one of my favourite anime/manga couples XD!!

* * *

Ruka was frozen in shock. This wasn't happening… it couldn't be.

Kain was actually staring at her in disgust.

"I-I-I." She stammered.

But their conversation didn't continue as Kain winced painfully while clutching at his side and collapsed onto the porch ground.

Ruka tore from the yard and sped up the front steps, snatching Kain up from the ground.

All of his clothes were completely soaked in blood. Then she saw it. The wound.

It was thickly oozing out his blood at such a speed that it made her head rush. Looks like her short endeavour of feeding wasn't enough. She _still_ wanted _more_.

Kain gritted his teeth painfully and tried to free himself from her grasp, but she ignored his feeble attempts and pulled him back into the bedroom.

She had to somehow stop the bleeding… She had to… close up the wound.

The fireplace!

Ruka helped Kain back down onto the bed gently.

"I have an idea to stop the bleeding, just stay still."

She darted from the room and ran her hand along the mantelpiece until she came across a box of matches. Lighting one, Ruka threw it roughly at the lonely piles of wood within the fireplace and watched it burn furiously. She then placed one of the fireplace pokers, which lay abandoned on the floor, into the fire to heat it up.

While it was warming up, Ruka rushed for the kitchen to get the first aid kit.

She also decided to wash her hands thoroughly before she did anything. They were still filthy from digging in the dirt outside…

She really wasn't good at anything like this… but she had to do something. At least the poker stick's heat would sterilize the wound and keep it from bleeding…

However Ruka wasn't sure if she could stick it through him… things like that make her nauseous and squirmy. But I guess it wasn't any different with her current blood lust symptoms and if she stopped the bleeding then it wouldn't be so intense anymore…

Ack. Why was she always thinking of herself?! Who cares if she was bloodthirsty! Kain was bleeding to death!

Ruka snatched the poker out of the fireplace and grasped the first aid kit underneath her arm.

She was ready.

* * *

"Kain… Kain this is really going to hurt…" Ruka told him nervously.

She was sitting beside the bed, poker at the ready.

It's not like she was getting any response from him. She wasn't sure if he was conscious or not… His eyes were closed as he winced and writhed violently upon the bed.

I guess this is the time, Ruka thought.

Working fast, she thrust the scorching poker through Kain's wound.

Ruka gasped in panic as he immediately sat up and let out the most excruciating shriek she'd ever heard. She quickly pulled it out and chucked it against the opposite wall, trying desperately to give him as much distance from it as possible.

He lay back down, his eyes still closed.

She stood up and seized the first aid kid with shaking hands. It had to be bandaged up.

But the wound was hardly visible anymore with his whole top half covered in blood.

Ruka reached out for some fresh towels that she'd earlier placed by the bed.

It basically took all her self-control not to lick it off herself… Eurgh, what was she thinking? Licking Kain's chest, yeah that wasn't inappropriate at all, she thought sarcastically.

He looked unconscious so Ruka didn't bother asking him if she could clean him up. When a majority of the blood was clear, she wrapped a long bandage around his waste five times and pinned it securely together.

She watched him sleep for a little while, afraid of what they'd talk about when he woke up. How could she explain something like that? It was foul, dirty and disgusting… Something she'd never ever do. Yet she was caught red-handed…

Ruka looked down at her dirty clothes and decided on a shower. At least she could clean herself up and _look_ civilized.

* * *

Kain began to stir from his slumber and opened his eyes slowly. He was alone in the room.

Reaching down to feel his wound, he realised it wasn't bleeding anymore and had been completely patched up. Not only did he feel a whole lot better, but Kain was clean as well. Not a drop of blood on him.

Was it all a dream? He could've sworn that…

Kain raised himself from the bed and made his way towards the door, wincing slightly at the wound.

A warm temperature greeted him as a fiery glow shone upon his skin. The fireplace had been lit and was emitting a homely scent across the room.

That's when he spotted Ruka, her dirty blonde hair only just visible over the couch.

Before he could even utter a word, her head spun around watching him reproachfully.

"How did you know I-" Kain started.

"I could smell your blood." Ruka replied simply.

There was no use lying anymore. The secret was out.

She'd have to tell him everything.

Kain still looked a little confused as he came and sat down next to her on the couch. Ruka handed him a shirt.

"Oh sorry…" He murmured.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. For the past few hours she'd been able to contemplate what she was going to say to him.

"I know you're probably revolted by me at the moment…" Ruka whispered softly.

Kain immediately whipped around to face her. "No, I-."

But he stopped himself almost as fast and turned his face away regretfully. Of course he was pissed off with her… but that didn't mean he was repulsed. How could _she_ ever repulse him?

He felt Ruka's hurtful gaze upon him.

Just don't look at her… Let her speak… Explain herself…

It took his whole willpower not to turn around and forgive her… for everything… anything.

"You were feeding off… a dead body. A dead human body." Kain finally managed to gag out, trying to fill the agonizing silence between them.

But he wished he hadn't even spoken. Ruka suddenly burst into tears, sobbing frantically into her hands. Kain sat there in alarm, unsure whether he should comfort her… or if it would make matters worse.

After a couple of minutes, she began to calm down and wipe her eyes.

She looked up at Kain apologetically and he felt his heart melt just a bit.

"I'm sorry…" She whispered miserably. "I should have told both of you when we were back at the train wreck."

He looked up in alarm. "What do you mean? Tell us what?"

"I hadn't taken my blood pills when you told me… I had them in my suitcase but… I was too ashamed that I hadn't originally listened to you… So I didn't go looking for them after we crashed…"

Kain's eyes widened apprehensively.

"You mean to tell me… that you haven't drunken blood for…?"

"Around 3 weeks. Well I haven't filled my quota for… three weeks." She replied helplessly.

Kain was momentarily frozen in shock. All this time… Ruka… of all people… was fighting bloodlust.

"When we arrived at the house there were two dead bodies in the kitchen that hadn't been completely drained of their sustenance yet... Leftovers from our earlier attackers I'd assume." Ruka added. "While I came back in to tend to you, Hanabusa disposed of them."

"And then you went looking for them…" Kain replied quietly.

Ruka nodded. "The moment you'd began to bleed again… I couldn't take it anymore. It was getting too strong. So I had to do something…"

She watched Kain warily. He almost looked… annoyed?

"I still don't understand why you'd go… _dig up_ a dead body." He struggled to reply.

She knew it. The judgement and criticising… It would all rear its ugly head, right about now. But she was prepared. Of course he had the right to judge her… Look at what she'd done… How she'd lied to them and effectively, selfishly made Kain pay with his critical injury.

"Why… Why didn't you just ask me…?" Kain said uncomfortably.

Ruka stopped in her tracks. She could even start to see a faint blush on his face.

Did he actually just ask her that? Wait… Did he actually mean what she thought he meant?

"A-a-ask you… about what?" Ruka managed to choke out.

Kain avoided her panicked gaze. "For my blood. Why didn't you ask for my blood?"

Oh god. She knew it.

"A-akatsuki…" She said softly, staring down at the carpet. "I wouldn't want to do that to you."

She watched him turn away quickly… but she knew there was hurt in his eyes. She couldn't hurt him… Not now…

Ruka put her hand on his shoulder. "Akatsuki, Have you ever given your blood to anyone?"

He twitched slightly under her touch. Maybe touching him wasn't a good idea right now…

Ruka removed her hand calmly.

"No." He suddenly replied.

She grimaced painfully, suddenly remembering where she was headed with this. "Well you know I have. And I can tell you firsthand… there are strings attached."

Kain unexpectedly jolted up off the couch and moved closer towards the fireplace, resting one of his arms upon the mantelpiece.

Ruka's eyes followed him timidly.

"What has this got to do with strings? I'm offering you my blood because you _need_ it. Not because you _want_ it." Kain said with slight irritation in his voice.

"I can't take it."

"You'd rather dig for bodies in the ground than take my blood…" He said it mostly to answer his own question.

Ruka stood up hastily. "That's not what I mean."

Kain felt himself getting unusually aggravated. God, so what if she didn't want to taste him? It was the same as always. Why the hell was he getting so worked up…?

He took a couple of deep breaths and calmed himself down.

"I meant that it's unfair to you." Ruka added in.

Kain sighed wearily. "Ruka, my wound is the least of our problems now. A bloodthirsty vampire is a thousand times worse."

He watched as she looked down guiltily.

"Giving Ka-ka-kaname sam-san my blood… Was one of the worst days of my life. I mean of course I got what I wanted… but it left me craving for more… it left me wanting him to take more…" Ruka replied disheartened.

Kain felt a little nervous to where she was going with this…

"Ruka, this is different. This is for survival."

"Okay then… Akatsuki…" She breathed. "How do you feel about me?"

* * *

Kain stood frozen in his spot. He literally couldn't think, move or speak.

In fact the only thing he could feel was his heart pounding violently in his chest. It felt so loud that he was afraid she'd hear it.

Ruka gazed at him, waiting for a reply.

What the hell could he say? Oh yeah, I've totally been in love with you since we first met. That'd smooth things out just fine…

"I…" He started.

Ruka watched a violent blush crossing his cheeks as he turned once more to face the fireplace.

"It's okay, you don't have to answer."

So this was it, Kain thought. She knew. His inner most suppressed secret. God how pathetic she'd think he was… Trying to force her to take his blood… Trying to comfort her after Kaname's rejections… Almost like taking advantage of her…

"Ruka… I just want you to know that I respect our friendship… and I always will. But I'll always be here when you need help, no matter what it is."

It wasn't hard for Kain to force himself out of the room, with the awkwardness that replaced their silence now. He wasn't sure if things would ever be the same… with her knowing how he felt. But it was best to leave her alone for a while, mull over things.

He wanted a cold shower anyway.

* * *

Ruka watched the flames of the fireplace slowly wither and die. Even though she felt tired… she wasn't ready to sleep yet.

Kain had already had a shower and returned to his room without another word. Guess she should have expected him to avoid her.

Well at least they were on a level field now. She knew how he felt about her, and he always knew how she felt about Kaname-sam... Kaname s-s-an…

Even though Ruka had promised herself to move on from him, she couldn't help but wonder where it'd lead her. How could she ever fall in love so deeply and truly again?

She felt a sudden painful throb in her heart.

Eurgh, maybe it _was_ time for bed.

* * *

Kain tossed and turned on the bed uncomfortably.

He was back at Cross academy… in class… Doing bloody schoolwork. He let out a bored sigh.

Hanabusa sat next to him, tapping his pen impatiently against the paper. Suddenly he turned to face him. "Well what do you think?"

"Huh?"

"About me and Seiren, silly." Hanabusa crooned fondly. He waved over at Seiren as she answered him with a shy blush of scarlet and hid behind her notebook.

Hanabusa clucked gleefully.

"Um... what?" Kain replied with confusion.

"Well never mind my love life. How are, you know… the thing with the… thing?"

"The what with the who?"

He rolled his eyes impatiently. "Everybody knows that Ruka wants you. Why don't you take up her offer?"

Kain almost fell off his chair.

From out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of orange pigtails speeding towards his desk.

"The plans in motion, red." Rima whispered frantically. She looked around anxiously. "Also… I don't think anybody has noticed anything yet… So I told Shiki to start it up."

"Ehh… Told Shiki to start what up?" Kain asked nervously.

Rima slapped her hand down on the desk. "The bloody dragon, red. The dragon! All Shiki needs to do is pull his tail and everybody will clear out. Now that leaves you enough alone time to be nice to Ruka, okay?"

Kain didn't reply, but his mouth was wide enough open with bewilderment.

Suddenly a huge horn sounded from outside.

Ichijo jumped up madly from the front row and turned to face the class. "Okay everyone, this is the drill we've been talking about! Everybody march with me to the caves! Quickly, quickly! Make sure nobody gets left behind!"

"See nobody suspected a thing!" Rima told him gleefully before joining everybody scampering out the door.

Soon enough, the only two left in the class were Ruka and Kain. Wait… she was sitting right in front of him, her back turned. How had he not noticed her before?

They sat in silence for a little while before Ruka made the first move.

She turned around nervously and exchanged glances with him.

He watched her gulp slowly as she rose from her chair and moved closer to his desk.

"W-w-w-wild senpai…" She whispered softly, a faint blush erupting across her cheeks.

Did… did she just call him WILD SENPAI?

"L-l-l-looks like we're alone now…" She added timidly.

"Uh… yeah." Was all Kain managed to reply.

She was now standing right next to him on the stool so that they were almost the same height.

Ruka reached out a hand to lay it on Kain's chest. "Can you tell me what you do to make the girls call you wild?"

Kain started at her in a mesmerizing trance. If she was going to play with him, then so was he…

He took her hand in his and pulled her closer towards him. "Because I'm a little bad."

Ruka blinked innocently, the slight blush had transformed into a crimson fury and engulfed her entire face.

"Well if you're so bad…" She said, her face starting to turn into a devilish grin. "You won't mind me doing this…"

She suddenly thrust her hand deep into his gut, twisting and churning inside him. Her face was being distorted, almost demon-like.

Kain yelped out in pain and sat up, thrashing around in his bed sheets. He winced as his wound started to throb agonizingly. Fortunately it wasn't bleeding though…

"Akatsuki…?" Whispered a soft voice from his right.

He actually jumped in shock. Next to his bed, sat Ruka… sprawled upon the floor and leaning against the mattress.

"Ru-Ruka?" Kain asked uncertainly.

He looked down at her as she gazed up helplessly. Her eyes had transformed into a dark blood red, filled with hunger… longing…

"A-Akatsuki… I…" She begun.

She started to sob softly.

"Ruka…" Kain said gently, lifting her head up from the ground.

"Please, take my blood."


	6. Surrender

**Author's note:** I know I'm definitely gonna get flamed for this… but… Just a little fact that I thought I'd share – I actually dislike Yuuki, Kaname and Zero. So I don't plan to have them in the story, or to write any fanfics revolving around them.

Errr… About this chapter. I'm not sure if you'll all love it or hate it… but I personally enjoyed writing it… so whatever. -shrugs- (its actually the longest one so far)

~Uni is starting again for me… So the updates might be… less frequent. But don't fret; I know how freaking annoying it is when people don't update so I'll try my best! Plus on my profile page I now have a progress percentage on every next chapter, so check it to see how I'm doing.

**Disclaimer:** Vampire Knight belongs to the wonderful Matsuri Hino. A big THANKYOU for creating one of my favourite anime/manga couples XD!!

"Ruka…" Kain said gently, lifting her head up from the ground.

"Please, take my blood."

* * *

Ruka looked up at him horrifically, but Kain had already pulled off the sheets and sat on the side of the mattress facing her.

This couldn't be happening. Not now. She'd promised herself not to give up.

It wasn't long til after she'd confined herself to her room that she was drawn back here. The temptations were too strong… They overpowered everything. Her senses, brain, body…

And there, Kain sat.

Staring down at her ardently, half naked… his neck exposed…

Ruka started to feel herself edging towards him…

Maybe… just this once… just a little bit…

She completely closed off her mind to all thoughts and tried to let the bloodlust take over.

Ruka rose slowly off the ground, her face uncertain with hesitation. She watched as Akatsuki blinked surprisingly. Had he thought that she would refuse? Then maybe she shouldn't…

Ahhhh, close off your mind… close off your mind… Just this once and it'll be over. He did say earlier that it was for survival…

* * *

Kain watched her glide closer. She had her hands on his knees now. They were so close…

He felt his heart begin to thump rowdily.

Then as slowly and delicately as possible, she placed either side of her knees on the mattress and wrapped her slender thighs around his waist.

He started to feel butterflies in his stomach as his muscles stiffened tautly. The warmth of her body was almost too much to handle.

Ruka then softly wrapped her arms around his neck and advanced towards his neck.

Kain felt an explosion of ecstasy in almost every muscle in his body… How we longed for her now…

He was waiting for the plunge… the pure moment where she would sink her fangs in deep to taste him. The suspense was too much. He was almost on the verge of completely ignoring her intentions and shoving her down onto the bed where he'd literally ravish her.

He'd never ever in his whole entire life… felt this aroused.

And then it happened.

Ruka sunk her fangs deep into his neck, drinking ever so tenderly. Kain closed his eyes and pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

He needed to feel closer to her…

Because even at their extremely intimate proximity, Kain still wanted more.

Of course he knew what he was feeling was wrong… it was stupid because he knew how she felt. But he couldn't help it.

He was so in love that it hurt.

Ruka unintentionally squeezed her legs tighter around his waist, causing his lower parts to tingle crazily. He was definitely going into a sexual frenzy. God, was she was so tempting…

How was it possible for her to not realize how hard he'd gotten? This was so embarrassing… Stupid teenage hormones…

But she obviously hadn't noticed his firm grip around her perfect hips either...

Which meant she obviously wasn't aware of a whole lot right now…

Oh god, shutup Kain. Just shutup. Was he going to take advantage of her now?

Just how desperate was he?

But he didn't get to think on it long as his vision started to blur slightly… He felt tired… really tired… Just how long had they been going on for?

At the exact same moment, Ruka slid her fangs from his neck and wiped her hand across her mouth.

"Akatsuki… You were so hot…"

Kain blinked stupidly, his breath caught in his throat. Did she just say…? Had she taken so much blood that he'd lost conscious and fallen asleep again?

"Oh... Sorry." She said again, a faint blush riding across her cheeks. "I mean your blood was really hot… It was kinda like drinking… warm milk."

He looked up into her eyes. Kain wasn't really taking a whole lot in right now. Feeling slightly dizzy, all he could make out was the outline of Ruka's beautiful face. Her porcelain skin… rosy lips… dusky crimson eyes…

She still sat on him, within the tight embrace.

He wanted it to last forever, their closeness… their intimacy… It just felt so right to him, so perfect.

But his thoughts must have shown in his eyes because Ruka started to shift uncomfortably, obviously aware of his iron grip and had began to writhe free.

He let go of her instantly.

Ruka stood up awkwardly and kept her eyes on the floor. Now that it was over… everything felt so incredibly complicated. The fact that Kain had willingly given himself to her… and her fervent acceptance… meant they were bound by blood.

No. That wasn't right. Kaname-sa-san and her had never been bound by anything perpetual. It was just a one-night contract. Nothing more… nothing less…

No matter how excited it had made her feel. How she felt his blood satisfy her every desire…

"It was probably because of my power."

Ruka looked up quickly. "What?"

"My blood… Its heat was probably connected with my combustion ability."

"Oh… yeah, I forgot about that."

They both avoided each other's gazes uneasily.

"I… I'd better get some rest…" Ruka stammered, turning promptly to leave the room.

Kain desperately wanted to grab her wrist. Tell her to stay. But his fear of rejection was too high… Even the slightest form of hurt felt like it would break him entirely. He felt so weak… Loosing all his blood earlier… Giving some to Ruka…

It was amazing he even had any left for himself.

* * *

Ruka stirred slightly in her sleep. She was playing down by the river, with two other little boys. One had messy fiery hair and the other soft curly blonde. They both prodded sticks into the stream. Sitting up on the higher part of the riverbank, Ruka didn't feel like getting herself dirty. But watching them jab at the rocks and spray each other… it did kinda look fun.

Suddenly the blonde haired boy looked up at her and grinned devilishly. Ruka watched in horror as he flung a pile of muddy weeds towards her. She jumped higher up the bank, but it still managed to hit her. Looking down at her new and beautiful velvet shoes, she realised they had been completely ruined by Hanabusa's prank.

Ruka stood up angrily and glared down at both the boys. Kain looked at her apologetically, as if he thought that he should've prevented it. But Hanabusa just grinned triumphantly and cackled away while going back to playing in the river.

That was it.

She wasn't going to take it anymore… How _dare_ he ruin her new shoes?!

Ruka took the plunge and charged down the hill at full speed, stampeding directly towards him. He turned around mildly at the sound of her feet thundering across the barren grassy earth.

Success.

Ruka made contact, knocking him to the ground violently and began to strike every body part she could reach. Hanabusa, now on the ground, made whining noises and feebly tried to counteract her assaults.

"A-a-akatsuki!!!" He screeched loudly. "Get her -ouch- off me!"

Kain normally wouldn't have intervened. He wasn't much for breaking up fights… and seeing Hanabusa pay for his crimes was always good fun. Especially if he had upset Ruka…

But he was really getting a walloping this time… and Kain would definitely get in trouble if he'd just sat and watched his cousin getting beaten to a pulp…

Kain reached out both hands and grabbed Ruka around the waist, pulling her firmly away from him.

"Akatsuki! What are you doing?! Get off- me!" Shouted Ruka, trying to force her way out of Kain's firm grip.

"Only -ouch- if you'll leave -ouch- Hanabusa -ow!- alone." Kain struggled to get out.

She was remarkably strong _and_ surprisingly vicious.

Ruka stop thrashing and calmed down a bit.

Hanabusa still lay spread eagled on the ground, his face and arms smudged with dirt.

"Fine. I guess he's hurt enough…" Ruka spat indignantly.

Kain sighed resignedly and let her go. She walked a couple of metres away and faced her back to them while crossing her arms. Kain watched her cautiously. He knew what was going through her mind, but still she remained at a distance and made no attempts to charge again. He put his hands back in his pockets and slightly blushed.

He had held her around the waist…

"Aren't you even gonna help me up?!" Yelled a voice irritably.

Kain awoke from his stupor and glanced over at Hanabusa who was staring at him grumpily. He rolled his eyes and walked over to give him a hand.

"Stupid dumb Ruka." Hanabusa muttered. He attempted to brush all the dirt from his chequered shorts. "All my clothes are dirty now."

"Well her shoes are dirty too." Kain answered him shrewdly.

Hanabusa rolled his eyes in annoyance. "So what. She can just buy another pair. That's what girls do."

Kain noticed out of the corner of his eye that Ruka had given up keeping her distance and was creeping closer.

"Plus, you weren't even concentrating on our game Akatsuki. You kept staring back at her like every minute. She's always being annoying and ruining our games!" He added in.

Kain glanced back at him, slightly blushing again. "N-no I wasn't."

"Yes you were!" He argued irritably. "Why don't you just go get married together if you like her so much?!"

Kain's slightly pink blush had turned tomato red. "M-m-married?! I don't want to get… married…" He said trailing off.

"I've decided that I want to play too!" Came a voice from their right.

Both the boys turned to face Ruka, who had successfully travelled back over to them again.

Hanabusa glared at her furiously. "Well you can't play because you're a dumb girl!"

"Girl's can do anything boys can do!" She shouted back equally as loud.

"No you can't! Because…" Hanabusa struggled for an excuse, but soon that same devilishly grin lit up his face. "Because you'll get too scared."

The slightest look of panic crossed her face, but was soon replaced with her usual self-important expression. "Oh yeeeaaah? Like from what?"

"I can't tell you now, that would spoil the surprise! We have to go on our bravery quest and reach the very end of Nightmare River before anything happens." He replied coyly.

She frowned with annoyance. "What is Nightmare River?"

Hanabusa pointed at the river they were standing next to.

"That's just called Eden Strea-" Kain started, but Hanabusa hushed him before he could finish the sentence. "Shhh! Don't speak lies next to Nightmare River or the spirits will punish us!"

Both Kain and Ruka exchanged sceptical glances.

"If you don't believe me, then let's go! I'll show you. Or are you too chicken??" He crooned mischievously.

"As if I'm scared. It's just a stupid river." Ruka swiftly marched ahead of them.

"Hanabusa… What are you up to now?" Kain said with annoyance.

"Sweet revenge…" He chuckled mischievously as he ran after her.

* * *

Kain moved groggily around the kitchen. Sure he had sorta regained some of his strength… but moving his limbs still felt like lighting weights.

And as he'd walked past Ruka's room he realised her door was closed.

Obviously still sleeping…

She didn't even ask if he was okay after their experience yesterday. She just… left the room. I guess he shouldn't expect much more.

After all, that was all she needed him for.

* * *

The sky had gotten increasingly brighter with sunrise looming upon them.

"We've been going along this stupid stream for hours…" Ruka whined with frustration.

She'd successfully fallen into the water a total of four times and her clothes were beginning to look like rags.

"The sun will be up soon." Kain added pointedly.

And with that comment, Hanabusa stopped immediately in front of them. "Maybe we should go back then…"

Ruka made a face. "What, is it past your bed time?" She teased him menacingly.

"I just don't like the sun!" He shot back.

"Come on guys, we'd better head back. Everyone will be looking for us." Kain said wearily.

Both the blonde haired vampires glanced at each other loathingly, but reluctantly turned back towards the house.

"Fine… I've got a game for you!" Hanabusa crooned deviously.

Ruka glared at the boy next to her. "I've had enough of your stupid games. They're boring."

Hanabusa huffed irritably. "Fine… then you won't get the prize."

Her eyes lit up slightly. "Prize… What sort of prize?"

The blonde haired boy snickered at her. "The person who wins gets to dare the loser. And they _have_ to go through with it. No exceptions."

"Fine." Sneered Ruka.

Finally she could inflict some payback on that idiot.

"What's the challenge then?" She asked him.

Hanabusa turned to Akatsuki. "Since you're not playing, you have to judge us."

Kain sighed with annoyance. Why couldn't they sort it out themselves…?

"What am I judging?"

"A running race." He beamed.

"R-running?" Ruka asked him timidly.

She was never any good at running because it wasn't really necessary for her. And on top of that, he was a boy so of course he was faster!

"Hanabusa, that's not fair." Akatsuki said.

Ruka looked up and beamed at Kain warmly, which caused a furious blush to form across his cheeks.

"Yeah, it's not fair. Your taller and faster." She told him.

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, you can have a head start then… But only a small one!"

She nodded approvingly.

"Akatsuki, we are racing to that big brown clump of weeds over there." Hanabusa said, pointing in the distance.

Kain nodded and sprinted up to their decided finish line.

"How much of a head start do I get?" Ruka asked Hanabusa suspiciously.

Since it was him, it definitely wouldn't be much.

"To that broken bottle." He was pointing just ahead of him, barely three metres.

"No way! I'm starting from here!" Ruka ran up a few more metres til she was level with an old, abandoned and rusty tractor.

"TOO FAR! THAT'S CHEATING!" Yelled Hanabusa angrily.

"Ready steady go!" Ruka yelled back with glee.

She began sprinting ahead at full speed.

Hanabusa exhaled noisily and shot after her. He was gaining speed, but it still wasn't enough. Ruka was still too far ahead… he'd loose for sure… and that wasn't something he was going to let happen. Loosing his own challenge?! No way! He was going to win and make Ruka pay for her dumbness and for always ruining his fun.

Frowning slightly, Hanabusa focused his energy on the cold wet ground. He hadn't really learnt to master his power yet… but since he would already have some help from the running water below them… how hard could it be? Closing his mind, Hanabusa focused as hard as he could on his ability…

Then suddenly from up ahead came a painful yelp accompanied by a nasty thud. As he ran past, he caught a quick glimpse of Ruka sprawled on the wet earth and he smirked gleefully. She sat in the middle of a large slab of frosty ice.

Hanabusa easily reached the finish line and jumped into the air excitedly as he reached Kain.

"What happened to Ruka?" Kain frowned anxiously.

Maybe leaving them to sort out their differences wasn't a good idea after all…

"Chill Akatsuki!" Hanabusa cackled amusingly. "Just chill."

Then around the corner came Ruka, marching towards them menacingly. Hanabusa gulped uneasily and hid behind Kain.

"Hey, she cheated first! Now it's fair! Don't let her near me!" He told him anxiously.

"YOU CHEATED!" Ruka snarled violently.

"You cheated first! Your head start was too big and you started the race earlier as well!"

"No I said ready, steady, go. Then I went. That's how it works you idiot!"

"You didn't give me any time to get ready!"

"You don't need to be ready, you just run!"

"No you don't! Akatsuki, I came over the finish line first didn't I? Which means I win, right?" He asked Kain promisingly.

"Uhh…" Kain stammered.

Ruka quickly shot Kain a sweet and pleading expression.

"Tsuki-chan! You believe me right?" She asked him pleadingly, edging closer.

Kain's voice stuck in his throat and he started to feel butterflies in his stomach.

"Tsuki-chan, I won… didn't I?"

Kain gulped anxiously as she edged closer and closer to him.

"Hey, you're cheating again! Don't cast spells on him, you witch!" Hanabusa fumed heatedly, breaking apart their close proximity.

Ruka hissed at him.

"I was going to make you eat a spider, but I got a better dare for you!" He told her indignantly.

"YOU DIDN'T WIN!" Ruka shrieked crossly.

Hanabusa shot a finger in her direction. "My dare is that you can't _EVER_ marry Akatsuki!"

Ruka blinked in bewilderment. "Huh?"

Kain was equally as shocked and hit Hanabusa forcefully in the back of the head, causing him to wince painfully.

"Stop saying stupid things." Kain said uneasily.

Ignoring Kain and rubbing his head, Hanabusa walked directly up to Ruka. "Stop trying to steal Akatsuki away from me! He's _my_ cousin!"

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

Three loud sounds vibrated throughout her ears, making Ruka open her eyes drowsily.

While gaining focus on her surroundings, she realised that she'd carelessly slipped out of her bed and onto the floor. Great.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

The three noises sounded again, this time louder.

Ruka got up off the floor and made her way to the door, rubbing her forehead painfully. As she opened the door, Kain's worried and impatient face filled her view.

"Are you okay?"

"Uhh. Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

Kain frowned slightly, looking slightly hurt. "I dunno… I thought I heard… noises."

Ruka widened her eyes tiredly, trying to regain focus on her surroundings. "I was probably just dreaming…"

"Yeah… I guess."

Ruka looked up at him and her eyes noticed his punctured neck wound, causing her to slightly gasp. She'd completely forgotten what had happened earlier… Everything felt so disorientated… and weird. Ruka had never felt this way after a dream… but it had felt so real… almost like she'd lived it… Had her encounter with Kain caused her to stir up old memories?

"I'm just raiding the fridge to see what they had… Are you hungry?" Kain asked her.

Oh crap. Poor choice of words… Very poor choice of words. Kain mentally slapped himself on the head. He promised himself that he wouldn't bring it up… If she wanted to act like it hadn't happened then… so be it.

But she didn't seem fazed by his word choice. "Yeah okay, I'll be out in a minute."

Kain sighed with assurance.

Ruka closed the door and slid down onto the carpet. Was it just her, or was she starting to remember how things were _before_ Kaname-san had come into their lives?


	7. Succumb

**Author's note:** WOW, so I'm so bad at updating… Sorry it's taken so long.

In all honestly I got so busy that I totally forgot about the story… And now I'm pretty much over my Vampire Knight obsession… but I'll try finishing this off because I hate leaving it so undeveloped. Who knows, maybe I'll get re-inspired and decide to drag it on, lol…

**Disclaimer:** Vampire Knight belongs to Matsuri Hino.

* * *

Ruka closed the door and slid down onto the carpet. Was it just her, or was she starting to remember how things were _before_ Kaname-san had come into their lives?

She travelled quietly into the kitchen. Kain had his back to her and was preparing something on the kitchen counter. She moved to the fridge and got out a jug of green cordial, placed it on the bench beside him.

Kain didn't flinch at all, infact he acted like she wasn't even there...

She felt so guilty. Ruka knew exactly how he felt about her, what he must be going through right now. It was the same way she'd felt after Kaname had taken her blood… Used, worn and fooled around with. That pain… which she never wanted to feel again… she had inflicted it upon somebody else… Not to mention how rude she'd been… She owed Akatsuki everything.

"I had a weird dream…" She said uncomfortably.

Ruka noticed Kain slightly flinch, but he still continued to chop up vegetables.

"About when we were young… Just You, Hanabusa and Me."

Kain stop chopping and looked up. "Oh… really?"

Ruka nodded. "You probably don't remember… but did Hanabusa and me ever have a running race?"

Kain smirked amusingly, "Yeah, but it was more like a warfare campaign."

"He… cheated…" Ruka frowned softly.

Kain looked down at her wistfully. She was acting kind of… different… He almost felt like her self-important attitude had been replaced by her childhood innocence… not that she didn't act overconfident back then… but she was more… chaste and authentic.

"Are you… uh feeling okay?" He asked her suspiciously.

"Yeah, I just… you know. I kinda forgot about those times. The fact that we all grew up together."

Ruka watched Kain, as he looked at her confusingly. He obviously knew something was going on because she never had actually talked freely about something that didn't revolve around Kaname.

"But… I'm sorry." She whispered to the floor.

Kain frowned at her. "Sorry… sorry about what?"  
"I'm sorry… that I can't return your feelings."

Kain felt his stomach drop as a dull pain starting aching in his ribs. It's not like he didn't know it all along… but having her say it out loud like that… Well it didn't make it any easier.

"I know." He said stiffly, turning away from her to continue preparing the food. Kain was sure that eye contact right now would be too awkward, even for him.

But the conversation didn't continue because he heard Ruka leave his side and go off in search of a drinking glass. He could feel himself slowly relaxing once more.

The silence continued amongst them for a good ten minutes.

Kain made himself busy by bustling around the kitchen, looking for any and every kind of utensil that generally made him appear occupied.

He got the slightest impression that Ruka had been constantly opening her mouth at an attempt to continue their earlier conversation, but always closed it soon after.

However after taking a long and unnecessary twenty minutes to prepare a small meal, Kain knew he couldn't avoid the subject anymore.

Ruka took a plate and sat down at the petite sized dining room table, looking up reproachfully in his direction.

For a split second he thought about grabbing his plate and making a run for it… but he was sure that any indication of fast movement would cause his wound to lash out a whole new meaning of pain and suffering upon his already aching body.

Reluctantly, Kain retrieved his plate and sat down opposite her, purposely avoiding all eye contact.

"Akatsuki." Ruka said cautiously.

He half ignored her, throwing a nod of acknowledgement in her presence.

"I just think you need to understand that-" Ruka continued.

"It's fine. You don't need to explain anything." Kain replied shortly.

However after glancing at her hurt expression, he sighed apologetically.

"I've always known you'd never feel the same way about me, and I'm okay with that. I've accepted it for a long time now." He told her.

She nodded sadly, that same childhood innocence taking over her features.

And Kain couldn't help but admire. The way her soft dirty blonde hair fell down either side of her face… framing her features tenderly. Her dusky rose eyes filled with concern and sadness… over him. Her beautiful perfect face was momentarily concerned for him… not Kaname, but him.

Kain felt a rush of warmth surge over him, leaving him feeling kind of giddy and disorientated… but in a good way.

"Honestly, I've always kind of pictured you as a brother… or cousin. Someone I could have a close friendship with. Like family."

Great. Warm surge gone. Replaced with icy glaciers and maddening images of… Hanabusa stabbing him in the back with… something… cold, sharp and evil.

He forced himself to smile to some extent, but was afraid it might have come across as a grimace.

But Ruka hadn't seemed to notice, she just continued eating peacefully.

They ate the rest of the meal in silence, but it wasn't what you'd call awkward.

It was more like they'd both come to some unvoiced arrangement that small talk wasn't needed anymore, that they could just be comfortable.

It was then that Kain decided to make it as awkward for her as it had been for him before.

"How are you feeling… after… feeding?"

Ruka shot an accusing glance at him, as if he just asked about something that was forbidden.

"Fine." She replied in a small, curt voice.

Kain watched her suspiciously. He knew Hanabusa wouldn't be back for at least another day or so. Which was something they both were probably thinking about right now… that she'd need another feed.

"Ruka… When the urges come forth again-" Kain begun.

"No, I'll be fine. I can survive." She replied in that same small, curt voice.

She was tracing her plate with the fork robotically.

Kain sighed with annoyance.

It wasn't like her feeding off him was a picnic in the park for him either. He just recently discovered how very disturbed he was, how much he yearned to give her his blood.

It's not like he hadn't received someone else's blood willingly over the years… he'd had heaps of weird… _experiences_… Was giving blood to someone any different?

But when the object of your undying affection clung herself desperately to you, how exactly would you handle it?

Ruka suddenly stood up and snatched her plate from the table. Kain watched her warily, thinking for a split second that she was just about ready to smash the plate across his face. But she walked over to the sink and dropped her plate inside with a loud clatter, then excused herself from the room.

When the time came, Ruka knew she'd have to depend on Akatsuki again. He was right. Hanabusa wouldn't be back for a little while and she would start to become, once again, dangerously ravenous.

Sighing desolately, she pulled her legs closer and wrapped her arms around her knees. She'd retreated back to the confine of her little room.

How could she be comfortable talking about that again with Akatsuki? And she definitely didn't want to 'use' him again like that.

There was nothing she could really do except for avoiding him. That would make it easier to control her urges and evade his accusations of her hunger's inevitable state.

Yes, that's exactly what she'd do.

* * *

It'd been hours since Ruka had returned to her room. Most of the night actually. How long had Hanabusa been gone… 3… 4 days? Kain wasn't keeping count. He was just happy his wound wasn't exactly life threatening anymore. In a week it'd be completely healed…

He had already read 3 novels from the shelves and planted himself on the couch that directly overlooked Ruka's door in hopes of catching her sneaking out. But no such luck.

He yawned softly, stretching out his arms above his head. Time to sleep soon, the light of dawn was creeping along the horizon.

Kain had to admit he was a little worried. He knew what it was like to try go on for long periods of time without blood tablets and it wasn't fun. Ruka's stubbornness wasn't really helping their situation… It was only a little blood…

He reached down under his shirt and felt his wound. It had actually started to heal pretty quickly; he didn't even need the bandages anymore. Which was lucky because the smell of blood lingering around the cottage had definitely brought certain events forward.

Disappointedly, Kain abandoned his post and made his way to the bedroom. He was sure that a good sleep would cure his slight queasiness. Obviously receiving too much excitement had taken its toll in the last couple of days…

Another very slow day passed as Kain was struggling to fight a battle within whether or not to bash down her door. He was positive that Ruka was torturing herself by ignoring her natural urges and reducing herself to imprisonment.

Not having blood pills for that amount of time was dangerous… but when she'd finally given in to temptation by taking his blood… Ruka had entered a whole new ballpark.

She actually tasted real blood again. Become drunk off its gratification. There was no way in hell that she could resist the urges to that. Not unless we had blood pills in stock, which would at the very least deduce her urges a little bit.

While spending most of his day either in the kitchen or striding impatiently outside her door back and forth, Kain now sat on the couch again with a new novel.

Kain scoffed as he re-read the title. _New World: Desperate for the taste_. How ironic.

But he wasn't far into his novel until he heard the faint creak of a door opening. Startled, he quickly glanced up from his book and caught two pairs of blood red eyes boring into him through the darkness. He immediately leapt off the cough in time for Ruka to slowly slide herself out into the brightly lit living room. Her eyes still wore that oh so familiar blood red, her expression completely unreadable.

"I don't want to talk…" Came a soft yet harsh whisper from her lips.

* * *

Ruka took a few steps forward but eventually stumbled onto the couch. She grasped the arm for support. Kain immediately leapt forward and pulled her into a sitting position next to him. Ruka rest her head tiredly against his shoulder.

"I… don't understand why I need… so much…" She began to whimper.

But Kain just silenced her with a whisper. "It's fine… it's what we are and how we live. Why would we ever change that?"

Ruka looked up into his face, her blood red eyes burning. "I… I know its selfish but… Akatsuki… I need more of your blood."

He simply nodded and brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "I'd do anything for you."

Kain knew their previous experience would be too hard for Ruka this time, position wise. She was considerably weaker and needed to lie down… Oh god, was this gonna be hard…

He lay Ruka down upon the couch and lowered himself down upon her.

"A-Akatsuki!" Sung out Ruka's anxious voice, as if she was forcing her last bit of energy into making it sound more like a warning.

"Just drink." He answered her flatly.

She peered up at him apprehensively, despite the yearning blood thirst.

After what seemed a short contemplation, Ruka gave in and reached her delicate arms up around his neck, piercing in her fangs. Kain immediately felt that rush surge through his body. Except it was about ten times worse than their last time. Not the rush, of course.  
That was better. But their situation… worse.

He now lay on top of his unrequited love… how was he supposed to get through this?

Kain grasped the sides of the couch, seriously hoping he could hold on long enough to act sensible… to not take advantage. Because all he had to do was kiss her… behind her ear, on her neck and then down to the collarbone… AH!

Stop it you idiot. Stop working yourself up… He allowed himself a mental slap across the face.

But he was quickly spared. A loud bang erupted from the side of the house, as if something large and heavy had been roughly thrown against it.

They both immediately sprung up off the couch, glancing towards the noise.

"What… was…?" Ruka started to speak.

The loud bang erupted again. If possible _louder_ this time. Ruka hastily grabbed hold of Kain's arm. She was slightly shaking.

Kain still felt a little dizzy from earlier so going out to scout the sounds wasn't ideal. He couldn't risk injuring himself again and leaving Ruka so vulnerable.

The bang erupted again; it was near the front door this time…

"Akatsuki… I think they found us." Ruka managed to cry out. She was now completely concealed behind Kain, as if contemplating whether or not to use him as a shield.

"Just stay behind me and you'll be fine." Kain said. It was a lie. She wouldn't be fine.

Once they burst in they'd kill Kain instantly leaving her no time for an escape. Then she'd be next. He felt fury flair up inside; the thought of anyone hurting her made him want to strike out at anyone… or anything.

Maybe he still had enough strength to soar a flame or two into their path… but that'd risk blazing up the house and they'd both be fried to crisps. No, he had to fight. Give her some time for a getaway.

"Ruka listen to me. When I say so, you have to run. As fast as possible, don't look back. Do you understand me?"

She appeared from behind him wearing an alarmed expression.

"What? What are you talking about? What are you going to do?"

"Anything I can."

Her expression didn't falter.

"I'm not leaving you here." She finally managed to utter.

Suddenly the door was thrust open. Actually that was an understatement. The door was blown wildly off its hinges and slammed forcefully against the opposite wall.

Kain braced himself, Ruka positioned behind peering out fearfully.

But there stood a man with pale blue eyes, not red. He was crouched down on his feet as if originally trying to pick at the door lock. He had sandy blonde hair and wore a dusty leather chocolate brown trench coat with dark faded jeans complete with tan boots.

Kain couldn't even imagine the looks himself and Ruka had planted all over their faces.

The man stood up quickly and brushed some dust off his coat. He stepped inside cautiously while glancing up at them briefly and did a double take as if only noticing them for the first time.

They all turned quickly to their right as a loud groan sounded from underneath the propelled front door. A level E vampire burst from beneath it, snarling viciously around the room.

However the blonde man was too fast. He sped over and snapped it's neck before either Kain or Ruka could blink twice.

"Hurry up, they're in here!" Called a familiar voice from outside.

Hanabusa quickly entered the house, alert and ready. He spotted Kain and Ruka across the room and sighed with relief.

"What the hell is going on?" Ruka called out from behind Kain. She slowly glanced over at the other blonde man who was now sticking some kind of object into the dead vampire sprawled out on the floorboards.

"Oh, this is my Uncle Takagi." Hanabusa motioned towards the man bent over the body.

Back facing them, Uncle Takagi threw a hurried wave towards them.

Hanabusa moved closer towards them.

"Apparently something weird _is_ going on with the E level vamps. So you're lucky I went for help." He said haughtily. He gave Kain a quick look over. "You look… better."

Kain felt himself blush slightly at the knowing 'one eye-brow raised' look Hanabusa gave him.

But Ruka butted in. "I don't understand. Did the vampires track us here?"

It was Uncle Takagi that intruded this time. "We thought so, because of the wound Hanabusa described. But from the healthy look of your friend here… " He pointed towards Kain. "I'm not so sure. Something else is happening here."

"We?" Asked Ruka.

"Yeah, I came with a whole group." Hanabusa chimed in. "There were a lot of people interested actually…" He looked a little confused himself.

"First things first. Let's just get back." Uncle Takagi said cautiously. He gazed uncertainly at Kain. "And see what's what with that wound of yours."


	8. Rescue

**Author's note:** My apologies for the last chapter… for Hanabusa's Uncle BLAH. I think it's fixed now but when I was writing it I hadn't thought of a name yet and accidentally published it without editing. His name is UNCLE TAKAGI incase any of you get a little confused in this chapter and are wondering who the beep is this guy?

Any who, not sure why but after re-reading this chapter it feels a little awkward and jumpy… I don't like it. Or maybe I'm just being super paranoid.  
Again just a thought, it'll probably be better if you guys added the story to your alert list. It then sends an email to you when a new chapter is ready. After you submit a review you can click in the box to subscribe alerts.

**Disclaimer:** Vampire Knight belongs to Matsuri Hino.

All four of them exited out the mess that was originally the front door. Hanabusa and Uncle Takagi were supporting Kain on either side. No matter how well Kain thought he moved around by himself in that small house, a long and fast-paced journey was _definitely_ not in his capabilities at the moment.

"That's another reason why more than just a few came along to help." Uncle Takagi stated.

Outside were at least a group of seventeen adult vampires. They all stood on alert, without even one hint of acknowledgment towards each other.

"If you were as badly hurt as Hanabusa told me then I figured we'd need a large guard seeing as we'd have to end up carrying you." He eyed Kain suspiciously. "Guess we'll be a little quicker now."

"Where exactly are we going anyway?" Added in Ruka from behind them. She was trailing the trio awkwardly as if uneasy she'd interrupt their 'manly' discussion.

"Back home." Hanabusa answered.

"Home?" Kain managed to croak out. His wound had started to throb again and they hadn't even started moving out. Maybe it guessed the massive journey that was to come, the burden his brain was oh so cleverly trying to hide from Kain himself.

"Yes, _home_, Akatsuki." Hanabusa snapped in censure. But his youthful face soon calmed. "Your parent's aren't around by the way."

"Wha-?" Kain started to ask.

"A lot of families have been evacuated from our area due to the increasing number of E level vampire attacks." Uncle Takagi cut in.

"Vampire attacks?" Ruka called in alarm.

"Yeah apparently they're targeting those in league with pureblood vampires." Hanabusa said.

Even though he couldn't see it, he felt Ruka's heart pump her blood a little faster. She was worried. He wanted to comfort her, at least give her a reassuring glance. AHH, why did she have to walk _behind_ them?

"Don't worry the Souen family has already left, along with the Kain." Uncle Takagi affirmed.

They felt Ruka let out a sigh of relief.

"So that means only the Aido family is left?" Kain asked.

"That's right. Well most of them anyway. Around a quarter left with the others." Uncle Takagi answered.

Kain gave another once over glimpse at the alert guards. How could he not have noticed it before? No matter how different their clothes and height appeared, they all shared the same familiar family traits; blonde hair and electric blue eyes.

Within a few minutes they all set out in a tight assemblage, the ones with a stronger hold on their abilities stationed upfront, back and on the sides. At first Kain found it difficult to keep up. Even with Hanabusa and Uncle Takagi on either side. But the glimmering hope of a well-deserved rest and proper medical treatment kept popping into his thoughts.

"Guess our short trip home will be a little longer than we expected." Kain murmured more to himself than Hanabusa. But Hanabusa only bore him a laid-back smile.

"Sure, finding Kaname and Yuuki _was_ our top priority… But we need to make sure the people we care about are safe as well." He said.

"Wow, look at you. All wise and mature-like." Kain mocked him teasingly.

And of course, the old flair that was Aido kicked in. "I've always been wise and mature!" He pouted, seeming more like a child than ever.

Kain couldn't help but chuckle at his cousin.

They'd been travelling only a day and a half and only made it back to where Kain, Hanabusa and Ruka had originally crashed in the train.

"Take what supplies you need." Uncle Takagi barked out at the group.

Ruka sighed a breath of yearning when she saw her familiar maroon luggage trunk sticking out from under a piece of steel rubble. She hurried over towards it and ripped it open in one go. Finally she'd have more clothes, shoes and… But the next word never came. She searched again and again, repeatedly thrashing around clothes and objects she'd packed inside. But they _weren't_ there. No blood pills.

"They were probably taken by the E-levels." Sounded a familiar voice from her left.

Ruka spun around to see Kain not 3 metres away. She looked away immediately, feeling a faint blush upon her already hydrated and sweltering face. Travelling to this extent in the last few days was taking its toll. However that was nothing on the shame and guilt she felt from what she'd done to him. When the two of them were alone it was still awkward but it didn't feel like what they'd done was real, as if it had happened in a dream or something.  
Now when there were people surrounding them, proving that what they were involved in was part of real life, it seriously freaked her out.  
In her promises to herself after the rejection, she craved to live her own life and not leech off others anymore. Not let _others_ take care of _her_, sacrifice themselves for _her_, fight _her_ battles…  
If possible she felt even dirtier at ignoring Kain, which was what she was planning to do. But it just didn't feel right. Or proper. Yes, proper. She was proper. She'd done something stupid and she had to pay for it. This is the new life she wanted. To actually _face_ consequences.

Ruka turned back to Kain after a moment's hesitation to catch him narrowing his eyes at her obscurely.

"Wh... What do you mean?" She managed to force out.

"I mean, look." Kain pointed out behind them, towards the rest of the crash. And Ruka let out a stifled gasp.

The humans that had died in the crash hadn't decomposed like usual. They'd all been _sucked dry_. Their skin shone a sickly putrid green in the moonlight and lay loose around their bones. Their eyeballs protruded from their sockets and she could've _sworn_ that something behind then scuttered rapidly out of sight. It made her sick.

To make matters possibly worse, Hanabusa was sulking near a particularly rotten corpse, prodding its head dejectedly.

"There's absolutely nothing left." He whined annoyingly.

Ruka scrunched up her nose in disgust. But it wasn't just Hanabusa that were dispirited. She suddenly noticed what Uncle Takagi meant by '_take what supplies you need_'. He didn't just mean for the three of them… he was talking about the rest of the search party feeding on what was left of these rotting humans!

The repulsion must have been significant on her face because Kain _not-so-indistinctly_ asked if _she_ needed help with _her_ trunk. Well, _it did_ take her mind off the horrific sight.

"Help with my trunk? _You_ should be the one asking for help."

It was true. Kain was miserably sitting on his baggage holding his wound tightly while still managing to look careless and carefree. How the hell did he do that?

"I don't need any help. I'm perfectly fine." Kain replied.

Ruka raised an eyebrow in interest. He sounded, if only the littlest bit, like Hanabusa.

Speaking of the devil, Hanabusa came wandering over.

"Great, now I have to travel the rest of the way with an empty stomach."

"You're disgusting." Ruka replied.

Hanabusa shot her a look of contempt. "Not as bad as you."

The two of them continued arguing pointlessly until two of the guard came cover towards them. They were both tall, even more so than Kain, and almost identical in appearance.

In fact, they _had_ to be twins. They both wore a similar sweater, dark charcoal with a white line to trim the hems. Both eyes were electric blue, the main credit of belonging to the Aidou family, and shared the same sandy blonde hair.

"Lord Takagi had to scout ahead with a couple of others. So we've been assigned to help make sure you have enough support." The one on the right said. It was obvious it was meant for Kain, but the twins stood at an angle that they faced all three of their trio.

"What do you mean, _scout ahead_? Is there trouble?" Kain asked.

"He's not sure… Some sort of message has been sent out from home. So we need to get moving." The other twin replied.

"Wait, but I'm supporting half of Kain so we only need one of you." Hanabusa butted in.

Both the twins humorously gazed down upon him.

"Lord Takagi said you'd say that." The first one said.

"But he told us to tell you; grow taller and then he'd consider it." The second one finished.

And without waiting for an answer or even glancing towards the open-mouthed and now indignant Hanabusa, they both sped over to Kain and raised him off the luggage trunk as if he weighed no more than a feather.

The twins sped past and Kain could no more than get in a quick look of an obvious farewell towards Hanabusa and Ruka.

"What… the hell just happened?" Hanabusa cursed out loud.

He started to walk over to Kain's trunk but was brushed out of the way abruptly.

Two more blonde haired blue eyed of the guard had scooped up Kain and Ruka's trunks and sped away in the same fashion as the twins.

"What? So I can't even carry a trunk?" Hanabusa angrily called out after them.

"Hmph. As if you could." Ruka replied, walking in the direction the guard was walking in.

Hanabusa kicked piece of rubble in his fit of temper and trudged bitterly after her.

"I can't think of what's worse. Being hungry or stuck at the end of the mob with you." Hanabusa whined miserably.

"Oh shutup. We aren't at the end. There are two guards behind us." Ruka replied.

"They don't count." He answered.

Hanabusa and Ruka were paced side by side within the rescue group. Just ahead, but out of earshot, were the blonde twins assisting Kain. They had originally thought about catching up to them to keep Kain company, but every time they sped up it seemed the twins did too. Even more so. Therefore they were forced to stay where they were… and in each other's company.

"Don't make this worse than it already is." Ruka snapped irritably.

Hanabusa just pouted.

"Anyway… what did your Uncle say about Kain's wounds when you described it to him back home?" She asked.

"What do you mean? I said we got attacked and he was injured by one of them."

"That's all? That was your detailed description?" Ruka replied, narrowing her eyes sceptically.

"Well that's what happened!"

"Then why are there so many people in the guard? It seems a little strange to me."

"I told you I wasn't sure. But the fact that I said we were attacked by a group of E-level vampires would've gotten them going, don't you think?" He sneered scathingly. "By the way, how did you close his wound and stop the bleeding?"

Ruka looked up in alarm. Wait, he didn't know about the blood donating…

Stop being so obvious you idiot.

"What?" He asked.

"Huh? Nothing…"

"Well? How did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"CLOSE HIS WOUND!" Hanabusa cried out in annoyance. He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously.

"I got a-" She started.

"I knew it." Hanabusa cut her off.

Ruka threw him another look of alarm. He knew _what_?

"You made him do everything himself didn't you? You're so completely useless. He's bleeding to death and you-" Hanabusa said accusingly.

"I used a hot iron rod, cleaned his wound and even changed his clothes." Ruka curtly interrupted him.

Hanabusa stopped ranting and glanced towards her. But a sly grin now spread across his face.

"What the hell is that for?" She asked him impatiently.

"Nothing, nothing." He answered mysteriously. Then suddenly sped up so fast he was able to easily catch up to the twins and Kain.

Ruka watched him go cautiously.

It was another 3 hours until they saw Uncle Takagi again. He stood warily, speaking in a low voice to the other Aidou members in his scout party. Once he saw the rest of the guard approaching he stopped talking and turned around.

"There has been a change in plans." He addressed the group.

"What do you mean?" Hanabusa called out frustratingly.

How he ever managed to survive that trip home to get help in the first case just completely bewildered Kain.

"Home isn't safe anymore." Uncle Takagi finally answered.

A series of hushed voices started spinning amongst the party, until the conversations started getting louder and louder. It wasn't long until Kain felt he were smack bang in the middle of a screaming competition. In one way, he guess he was.

"But what about the families that are there?" A voice roared directly behind him.

"Have they been evacuated?" Yelled another.  
"Then where are we going?" Erupted one from his left.

"QUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIETTT!" Bellowed Uncle Takagi furiously.

The group fell silent, a few looking quite ashamed of their behaviour.

"Now. Once you girls have stopped quivering." He continued. "No offence." He added, acknowledging Ruka, the only girl in the party. "We have a safe retreat to reside in. In answer to your questions; Yes, most families have either been evacuated from our homes or sent to this same safe haven. Unfortunately some have died but we won't know anything more about it til we reach our destination and start putting forth some inquiries."

A few of the group exchanged anxious glances or satisfying nods.

"The haven is not too far from here. A day's travel." He nodded towards Kain. "Even at an injured pace."

Great, Kain thought. He was publicly being named as '_the burden_', the one that prolonged a bunch of adult vampires seeking knowledge that their families were unharmed. How popular he would be…

The day's travel went quicker than Kain imagined. He also seemed to move faster, as if the wound was on some accelerated healing kick. It was a little weird, he'd admit, that only a day or two ago he was near death. And now… almost completely reenergized? It seemed a little too good to be true. Deep down something was nagging him but he couldn't quite make it out. Something, some little voice was saying it didn't matter. And why not listen to that voice, he thought?

"There it is!" A voice cried out from the front of the group, breaking Kain from his thoughts. And there it was. How could he have been so entranced that he'd missed such a sight?

A huge ivory mansion was looming closer to their front. From its front door in the middle of the compound, both its sides stretched out wider than the eye could see. In fact it looked more like a museum than a house.

The party walked up towards the door by passing through the exquisite gardens. Just what was this place? It seemed like some sort of monarch's palace.

When they finally reached the front door, Uncle Takagi marched out in front and pounded hard on the delicate marble entrance. He continued it repeatedly until Kain was sure the door's dainty exterior would shatter under his violent fists.

Soon enough a beautiful lady around mid thirties swung the door open, extending her arm to invite them in. She had long blonde velvety hair, electric blue eyes and wore delicate woven fabrics in pale blue drapes over a violet coloured dress.

"We've been expecting you." She said gracefully.

From her manner, you'd think she worked as a servant. But the way she was dressed and the trinkets she wore told otherwise.

Uncle Takagi only grunted in reply and made a motion for the rest of the party to follow him in.

The twins made a motion to continue supporting him, but Kain shrugged them off. He felt fine. Better than fine. Kinda… great actually. He felt that nagging voice again, clearer this time. Warning him… about… what?

"Hanabusa, Akatsuki, Ruka!" Called out a familiar voice from inside the massive lobby. Hanabusa and Ruka had finally made their way to Kain's side and all looked up the main staircase in interest.

And there stood Takuma; blonde hair prim and perfect as always and his green eyes shined with happiness. But he wasn't alone.

Emerging from either side came Rima and Shiki, both expressions unreadable as usual however a faint trace of a smile wavered over their lips.


End file.
